The Twin
by IlliterateGuy
Summary: A story about the Hitsugaya twins. Didn't know Hitsugaya had a twin? Obviously he does. SS arc spoilers. Ch. 14 up [FINISHED]. Battles are won, apologies made, and wounds tended to [HitsuHina][OtherHitsuRan] and a [GinRan] moment.
1. Prologue: Gomen, Okaasan

**Intro: **I love the character of Hitsugaya.. so I one day I was thinking, hey! Make another Hitsugaya! And voila! This is my first fan fic -ever- so reviews and advice would be greatly appreciated.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any part of Bleach..etc. etc. Even Kumatsurou, since he's like.. half Toushirou and half stuff I've made up.

* * *

There was a rugged mountain trail that twisted up the mountainside, leading to a small town set in a small groove on the slopes. The journey from the larger town at the foot of the mountain to this village was difficult, and very few chanced this journey. The track itself was narrow, and anyone unfortunate enough to lose their balance may fall off the cliffs to meet their end after a hundred foot fall. Anyone who frequently took this path would know how to survive it, but to make matters worse, the mountain was often visited by blizzards and snowstorms, which made the journeys far more perilous. Even the most experienced of mountaineers didn't go up the path when a storm was predicted. However, the village was protected from the worst of the snow storms by the surrounding mountain, and only suffered from light snowing in the winter. 

In this quaint mountain village, there lived in particular, a boy and his twin brother. The two were quite alike to look at; both had green eyes, and a shock of hair which stood up. However, while one's hair was white as the snow that often fell in the village, the other's was an electric blue, which gave him a rather energised look. Both of them were renowned for being geniuses, and they were the pride and joy of the whole village, being the first two from the village ever to attend the high school in town, even though they were still only kids. Hitsugaya Toushirou was the white haired boy, Hitsugaya Kumatsurou the blue haired one.

Toushirou was in fact the more intelligent of the two, but perhaps as a result of that, he was also the more uptight of the pair. While he didn't care quite as much for friends and companions, his brother, Kumatsurou, was much more social, and seemed much more relaxed than his brother, save for when he was studying. The Hitsugaya twins lived with their mother, a single parent who had lost her husband in an accident many years ago. Both her boys adored the gentle woman who had cared for them and fed them for years, and would do anything to please her.

* * *

"Nii-san, hurry up already! We're gonna be late for school if you keep going that slowly!" Kumatsurou yelled over his shoulder at Toushirou, who seemed to be taking his sweet time as the pair of them made their way down the mountain. "We'll might miss out on some notes if you don't hurry, notes that will be needed for the exams next month…" The remark had its desired effect. Toushirou raced ahead, with Kumatsurou running lightly behind him. "Come on Nii-san, race you!"

"Dammit, you always beat me, even with that headstart you gave me…" Toushirou was panting slightly as the pair of them reached the school gates. Kumatsurou merely smiled as he entered the school building.

It was lunch time, and as usual, the pair of them were surrounded by a group of awe-inspired students, all of whom towered over the twins, but still found the Hitsugaya's to be their intellectual superiors.

"Hey, how'd you guys find that test in there?"

"Wasn't too bad, bet Toushirou and Kumatsurou aced it though…"

"It was pretty easy… but I'm sure Nii-san found it a breeze."

"Eh... shut up Kumatsurou." Toushirou wore his trademark scowl as he made this final remark. He hated this routine, everytime, after every sort of test, assessment, exam possible, the same thing would happen, he and his brother would attract a small crowd of admirers.

As the school bell clanged loudly, signalling the end of the day, the twins made their way back up the mountain. They were the only ones to do so, being the only students from the high school at that village. "Nii-san, think we'd better go quickly, I heard there might be a storm later on in the afternoon." Toushirou made no acknowledgement but quickened his pace.

The two of them reached the village safely, and were greeted by their mother as they entered the house. Stripping off his scarf, Kumatsurou made his way to the fire. "Nii-san aced another test today Okaa-san."

"Shut up." The reply was immediate, but Toushirou blushed slightly as he said it.

"Now now boys, be nice to each other." Her words were lost on the two prodigies, who were now in the middle of a small wrestling match. Kumatsurou had opened his mouth to continue making his brother feel uncomfortable, but Toushirou had landed on him first, clapping a hand over the overused mouth. Now the two of them were rolling about on the floor, one trying to scream out embarrassing praises of his brother, and the brother trying to stop him from doing so.

"Toushirou, Kumatsurou…" Their mother warned them, but suddenly she stopped. She gave a faint sigh before fainting on the spot. Toushirou was now trying to stuff a bunch of serviettes into his brother's mouth when Kumatsurou pointed furiously behind him. Turning around, Toushirou's eyes widened in horror as he saw his mother sprawled on the ground. Instantly the fight ended, and the two of them released each other, and ran over to the woman.

"She's got a high fever… Kumatsurou! Go and get the old guy!" Kumatsurou understood, and ran out of the house, returning several minutes later with the elder of the village.

"This is bad, she is quite ill, and there is no medicine in the village that can help her…"

"Well what about the town!" Toushirou's retort was fierce. "We have to do something!"

"The town, yes, the town would have the medicine required, young Toushirou, but I'm sure that you've realised that a storm could be starting any second now…"

He was cut off, "I don't CARE about any stupid storm, I'm going to get that medicine."

"No you aren't." Kumatsurou's voice was a bit shaky, but determined nevertheless. "Not without me anyway, it'll be easier for the two of us to go, rather than just one. Please stay with Okaa-san while we're gone."

Without waiting for any answer, the twins grabbed their scarves and coats, and raced outside. They were in luck, the storm hadn't started yet, and it was only snowing lightly as they made their way down the mountain. When they reached the town, they entered the pharmacy and demanded the medicine that the elder had described. Now with a large bottle under his coat, Toushirou left, Kumatsurou behind him. Outside, however, they were greeted by a grim twist.

"Look, Nii-san…" While they had been inside the pharmacy, the light snowfall they had experienced on the way down had swelled into something much bigger, it wasn't a blizzard just yet, but there was no doubt that it would become one.

"Who cares, we have to get this medicine to Okaa-san. Stuff the snowstorm, we've been up and down that path almost every day of our lives, we can make it back." With an icy determination in his voice, Toushirou made for the track, with Kumatsurou beside him.

About halfway up, the blizzard reached its maximum, and the twins had just reached one of the most exposed points on the mountain track. A fierce wind raged at them, threatening to blow them off. The snow and ice was also blinding, it was impossible to see. An unexpected gust of wind came through, and blew the two kids straight off the cliff. As the two hurtled towards their certain death, the same thoughts were racing through each one's mind. _"Gomen, Okaa-san."_

* * *

**Stuff: **Phew.. that's done. Was almost afraid that this Prologue bit would be too short.. but as it turns out.. this is only HALF the Prologue I was planning to do. I'll probably keep writing this even if I get no reviews... but anyway, I'd like some feedback and stuff anyways. 


	2. Prologue: Sayounara, Niisan

**Intro:** Second part of Prologue, and that's about all you need to know

**Disclaimer:** Same stuff as before, I don't own Bleach.. etc. It's not much to be proud of, since they ARE more like, characters taken from a mould, but I "own" Otou-san and Okaa-sama...

* * *

When Toushirou woke up, he was no longer on the mountain track, he was in a field. _What the hell? There aren't any fields around the mountain…_ Looking around, he tried to remember what had happened, when he realised that someone seemed to be missing…

"Kumatsurou! Where are you!" There was no reply. Toushirou's heart dropped like a stone, Kumatsurou mustn't have died after all, and was still in the living world. His laments were cut short when someone cannonballed into him and he landed face first in the dirt. "What the…"

"Nii-san!" Kumatsurou exclaimed happily as he wrapped Toushirou in a tight embrace. Toushirou grinned as he returned the hug. Suddenly, he became aware of another presence. _They were not alone_. Releasing his brother immediately, he looked behind him to see who the stranger was. It was a man, dressed quite simply, and he appeared to be enjoying the spectacle of the twins' reunion.

"Who are you? What the hell are you doing here?" Kumatsurou smacked his brother's head unmercifully.

"Nii-san… don't be so rude! This is our Otou-san"

"Otou…san?"

Kumatsurou nodded as he continued. "We're in Soul Society now, it's where all the spirits go when people die, and they give you new families, since it's usually impossible to find your real families. But since we died together, they managed to stick us both in the same family!"

The strange man spoke for the first time. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Toushirou. Your brother and I have been having a chat while you were still coming around, and it appears that you are quite the scholar…" The man stopped, for Toushirou had just punched Kumatsurou on the nose.

"Baka… you're pretty smart as well you know Kumatsurou." Once again, Toushirou said this with a slight blush in his cheeks.

The foster father smiled and beckoned them towards him. "Let's go then, we live in the 39th district of West Rukongai." When they arrived, the twins were rooted to the spot in shock. The 39th district was a busy, bustling place, quite different to the home they were used to. Leading them into a house on the outskirts of town, the man yelled out. "We're baaaaack!" A prim and well-groomed woman stepped out, quite unlike the twins' own mother.

"Hello there, I'm your Okaa-sama. I expect you both to be on your best behaviour at all times, if not, I will punish you severely." Both the twins and their father blinked. It wasn't often that one had to refer to their own mother, even a foster mother, with such respect.

Kumatsurou blinked several times before introducing himself. "Um… hey, I'm Kumatsurou, and this is my brother, Toushirou." Toushirou scowled, if this was the woman they were supposed to call their mother, this new life was not going to be an easy one. The father seemed to understand this, and hurriedly tried to break the tension that was forming.

"Hey... why don't you two kids go out and meet the other kids in the neighbourhood? There are tons of 'em around here." Kumatsurou was only too happy to oblige, dragging Toushirou out behind him, who was sending death glares at the woman's back, as she turned to face her husband, as if enquiring where he had found these two pathetic kids. "Well, that was a nice meeting, we should have a lot of fun with those two boys." The man remarked, seemingly oblivious to the battle that had just gone on in the living room.

Outside, Toushirou launched into a tirade about the tiresome woman who had adopted them, while Kumatsurou sat silently, listening to him as he fingered a small locket that he kept around his neck. "…can't believe she wants us to call her _Okaa-sama,_ I mean, what sort of person calls their mother that! What a friggin…" He noticed his brother's action for the first time. "What's that Kumatsurou?"

His brother looked up as he answered. "This…? It's just, the locket that Okaa-san gave me ages ago, you lost yours, remember?" Toushirou scowled and shrugged. Kumatsurou sat still. It was obvious he missed their _real _mother. He was about to continue when they were heralded by a loud voice.

"Hey there, you two new around here?" Motioning for Kumatsurou to be quiet, Toushirou turned to face the owner of the foghorn voice. It belonged to quite a sturdy lad, who was glaring menacingly at the twins, but Toushirou didn't even blink, he returned the stare equally as forcefully. He was surrounded by a group of thugs roughly the same size as he was. "Just a word of advice, kiddies, don't upset Jimekko. I don't like pansies who play around with their jewellery either." He added, smirking at Kumatsurou, who still held the locket tightly in his hand.

"Well, no one asked you, did they, Foghorn?" There was an audible gasp from Jimekko's gang as Toushirou challenged him. His face drained slightly, but he quickly regained his composure.

"Lucky for you you're such a squirt, or I might actually consider beating you up for that. Just remember, stay out of my way!" With those kind words of introduction, Jimekko and co. left the twins alone, and went off to find some other poor soul to 'welcome'.

A voice came from behind the Hitsugaya's, filled with awe and admiration. "Y-y-you stood up to J-J-Jimekko? Wow, you must be t-t-tough!" The speaker was a lanky kid, a good two heads taller than Toushirou, but he wore a dull expression that showed he was plainly terrified of Jimekko and his gang. "H-h-hey there, I'm Hiroshi. N-n-nice to meet you." He bowed slightly.

Toushirou scowled and turned away. "Why the hell are you bowing? I'm younger than you are, and not like I'm royalty or anything." Kumatsurou took the opportunity at his brother's silence to recompose himself.

"Hey! I'm Hitsugaya Kumatsurou, and Toushirou's my twin brother. And don't mind him, he's always cranky about _something_." Toushirou stared incredulously at his brother and cocked one eyebrow.

"I am not."

"Yes you are, so anyway Hiroshi, do Jimekko and his friends always harass the kids around here?"

"Y-y-yeah, everyone's dead s-s-scared of them. Except for T-T-Toushirou-san." Toushirou rolled his eyes as he grabbed Kumatsurou's arm.

"Come on, we'd better get back home before Okaa-_sama_ thinks we got killed and throws a party." There was no mistaking the contempt in his voice as he spoke the woman's title, and even Kumatsurou understood what his brother was feeling.

"Alright then Nii-san. See ya later Hiroshi!" Kumatsurou waved at the stutterer as the two of them returned home.

The pair was met by a dignified but inwardly seething woman. "Where… were… you? You… have… been… out… all… afternoon…" Each word was delivered with precision, and slowly, as if drawing out the torture of the guilt she was trying to impose on her foster sons.

"Meeting the other neighbourhood kids. Otou-san said we ought to." Toushirou didn't look at her as he replied, simply taking off his coat and dumping it on a chair, just like he had always done when he was alive. Kumatsurou was about to follow suit when their mother's voice interrupted.

"I'm sorry, Toushirou, but I'm afraid I cannot allow you to leave your belongings all over the house in such disarray. Kindly take it up to your room. In your long absence, I prepared the spare room for you and your brother. I'm sure you'll find it _quite _satisfactory." Kumatsurou wasn't sure which look contained more hatred and anger, his brother's or his mother's. After the staring contest ended, Toushirou grabbed his coat and went up to the room, without a word, but a scowl on his face, even deeper than usual. Kumatsurou followed him silently.

When the boys opened the door to the room, their thoughts were exactly the same. _It looks like a prison cell…_ There were two beds, one on either side of the room, and a window in between. The floor was uncarpeted, and the walls were grey and blank. On each side there was also a desk, with minimal stationery and piles of homework. While the furniture itself wasn't bad, it was dull, and just contributed to the prison feeling. Kumatsurou sighed as he went to look out of the window. It looked out onto a field, the field that he and Toushirou had met their father. He turned and saw his brother inwardly cursing the woman who was to take care of them in this life. There was certainly no love there. Sighing, he lay back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. _This is going to be a hard life_.

Several months passed, and the situation was no different. The twins' new mother was a slavedriver, and piled the work onto her two boys. Luckily, they were geniuses after all, and managed to finish all that was offered, but there was no pleasing her. Even when Kumatsurou was unofficially announced as the fastestrunner in the entire 39th District, she was no more attached to him than before. While Kumatsurou accepted this reality silently, he found refuge from his hard life at home from the friends he had made in the 39th District. Hiroshi had introduced the inquisitive Kumatsurou to a variety of kids in the neighbourhood, and whenever he was away from the hellhole he was forced to call home, he spent his time in the company of his friends, significantly happier than when he was at home. Toushirou, however, wasn't quite as social-orientated. Although he often accompanied his brother, he never actually bothered to bond with the other kids. It was this that eventually led him to run away.

It was a morning, just like any other, and Kumatsurou woke up to find that Toushirou wasn't in bed. This was no unusual occurrence, for the boy genius often woke up early to escape the wrath of the woman they called "Okaa-sama", but when Kumatsurou couldn't find him after an hour of searching, he returned to his room confused. On his desk was a neatly folded piece of paper, that was addressed to him. "Nii-san…?" Opening it, he read its contents.

_Dear Kumatsurou,_

_I am writing this to tell you what I'm sure you already realised over these few months. I CAN'T live with that woman. She is the living incarnate of the devil, or something worse. I am sorry for what I have done, but I just couldn't stand one more minute of living under the same roof as her. She has made my life hell, and I couldn't go to my friends for refuge, like you did. Tell Hiroshi and the others I'm truly sorry, and I hope I'll see you again._

_Hitsugaya Toushirou_

Kumatsurou was rooted to the spot, the letter held limply in his hand. His brother… _was gone_. Walking over to the window, he looked back out to the large grassy field that stood on the outskirts of town. A tear dropped from his eye as he imagined a short, spiky white-haired boy running across the field, trying to escape the wrath of one woman. _Sayounara, Nii-san._

* * *

**Stuff: **Well, there's the second part, and so ends the "Prologue". Wanted to put the two up together, but didn't know if I'd get enough time to do it at once. As it turns out, I did... Reviews and stuff welcome as usual...


	3. Reunion

**Intro: **Time to do some catching up. Here the twins meet each other again, and Kumatsurou tells his story. Hinamori also appears, but no real HitsuHina yet.

**Random Note:** Yamamoto Genryuusai isn't his full name.. O.O Its only his last name, and his first name is Shigekuni, according to the Bleach game database anyway…

**Disclaimer: **The usual.

* * *

It was graduation day. The students lined up in a solemn procession as they received their certificates from the Commander General Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni. In the front row of the auditorium, the captains of the Gotei 13 and their vice-captains sat, watching intently, all except for one particular boy. Hitsugaya Toushirou. Even though he had been through the entire graduation process of the Shinigami Academy at least 10 times, he found it extremely boring. Trying not to yawn while being watched by practically every other Shinigami in Soul Society, he turned his attention back to Yamamoto and the next batch of Shinigami graduates. A poke in the ribs made him turn and glare at his vice-captain, Matsumoto Rangiku. 

"What was that for?" He hissed, slightly annoyed. Matsumoto, merely smiled, a small hiccup escaping her as she did so. _Oh my god no, you got drunk just before the ceremony?_ Hitsugaya sighed, now he had to keep his vice-captain out of trouble as well. The blonde beauty hiccuped again before pointing lazily at the stage. Hitsugaya had no wish to see what she was pointing at in her drunken state, and ignored her. But this proved impossible once she started alternating between poking him in the ribs and pointing at the stage. Looking up, he saw at once what she was trying to point out. Behind Yamamoto and his lectern, there was a line of Shinigami graduates. One of them was a short spiky haired boy, a boy whose hair was an electric blue… Toushirou gasped softly. _Kumatsurou…_

The sun shone brightly over the courts of Seireitei, just like every other day practically. The 13 squad captains and vice-captains had once again been assembled, as the 60or sonew Shinigami graduates lined up, waiting to be assigned a squad. When Hitsugaya and Matsumoto reached the 10th squad group, the boy captain looked in surprise. Surrounded by a few other Shinigami, each at least a head taller than he was, was Hitsugaya Kumatsurou. He's in… _my squad_. Although his outward appearance portrayed very little of his shock at this turn of events, Matsumoto read the kid's face and understood. _It's just like on Graduation Night, when I pointed him out to Taichou. He _does_ know that kid._

Kumatsurou was chatting to his new mates in the 10th squad, who were all surprised to see someone as young as him with them, when he turned around and noticed his captain and vice-captain standing there. _Nii-san_. That was his first thought. _She's really pretty._ That was his second. Shushing his new friends, he pointed in the direction of the captain and vice-captain. The group fell silent, as the white haired kid stared at them.

"Alright then. Welcome to all you guys. I'm Hitsugaya Toushirou, the 10th squad captain, and this is Matsumoto Rangiku, the vice-captain." _Matusmoto Rangiku, _so that's her name, thought Kumatsurou, and just about every other guy in the vicinity of the 10th squad group. "I'll leave you now to her, she'll explain the basics of what you guys need to do around here, and then, can you bring them up to my office and show them in one at a time? I wanna get to know them a bit better." Matsumoto couldn't conceal her grin as she heard these words. _You sneaky little kid, Taichou. You've never wanted to "get to know" your new squad members before. You just want to talk to that blue-haired kid by yourself, without all his friends._

Toushirou walked back to the 10th office, and sat himself in the office. It had been many years since he and Kumatsurou had laid eyes on each other, ever since that day when he had run away from that incessant woman who called herself their mother. _I never thought he'd become a Shinigami as well, and to think he actually landed in _my _squad._ His thoughts were interrupted by a loud knock. Without thinking, he identified the knocker. "Show 'em in, Matsumoto."

The first guy came in, rather intimidated with having to speak to the captain on his first day. Toushirou forced himself to ask random questions, thinking that he'd probably never need to know the answers to some of these questions, but nevertheless, his genius brain took in every little bit of information.

The next three interviewees were much the same. Toushirou had noticed something that _had_ stood out with them though. While all of them appeared to be delighted to be in the 10th Squad and such, Toushirou could tell by looking at them, that they were clearly disappointed in having a kid as their superior. Dismissing them each as quickly as he could, he awaited the last interviewee, glad that Matsumoto had had the sense to leave his brother until last.

When Kumatsurou entered the room, neither he nor his brother said anything, they just stared at each other. Toushirou broke the silence by calling out impatiently. "Che… If you wanna come in and listen Matsumoto, just bloody come in rather than trying to listen through the keyhole." The door opened and the vice-captain stepped in, amazed at her captain's perception skills.

"Hehehe… sorry Taichou, just couldn't help myself." Toushirou ignored her apologies, and turned back to his brother. Kumatsurou shifted uneasily, as if debating whether or not to speak first. After a few seconds, he reached a decision.

"NII-SAN!" The blue-haired boy rocketed into Toushirou, sending both of them to the floor, where he began to hug the astonished captain fiercely.

"Ku-Kumatsurou! What the hell are you doing!"

"I knew it! I knew that you two were related somehow! Ever since the first time I saw you at the Graduation Ceremony!" Matsumoto's voice was shrill, clearly congratulating herself on her deductive work.

Toushirou smirked as he untangled himself from his brother's embrace and replied. "Really? I thought you were too drunk to even recognise _me_."

"Hey, I wasn't _that_ drunk."

Toushirou rolled his eyes. "Yeah whatever, just be glad no one noticed you drooling half way through."

Matsumoto's voice was indignant. "At least I wasn't falling asleep!"

Kumatsurou's expression was one of shock. This was quite an interesting insight into the behaviour of his Captain and Vice-captain. "Anyway, Matsumoto, this is Hitsugaya Kumatsurou, my twin brother."

Matsumoto's expression changed. "Aww.. you're TWINS! How CUUUUTE!"

Both the brothers sweatdropped at this somewhat pointless statement. "Shut up. Either go do some work or stay here, just don't make another sound before I get the urge to strangle you."

As the sun began to set, the brothers began to exchange their stories, while Matsumoto listened, hugging a large fluffy pillow and restraining herself from making more comments as Kumatsurou began his tale. "Well, after you left…"

* * *

For the rest of the day, Kumatsurou stayed at home. He couldn't even begin to imagine what life would be like without his brother. He decided not to tell Okaa-sama, as she would probably flip, and start organising the first half of her "Yay the brats are gone" party, but resolved to tell his father instead. "Otou-san?" He asked quietly as the man sat in front of the table, staring at the sludge that his wife had just served him for breakfast, before leaving to go to her fancy club meeting. 

"Hmmm?" His attention was still taken up fully by the revolting slime that sat in his bowl. "She should join a cooking club of something…" He remarked thoughtfully. Kumatsurou didn't answer, but thrust the letter in front of his father. After he silently scanned the document, he sighed and leaned back. "Well, I didn't think he'd last that long. Don't worry Kumatsurou, I'm sure you'll see him again some day."

The following week, Okaa-sama returned home one day, literally bursting with importance. After waiting for the full attention of her two remaining family members, she made her announcement. "I'm moving out!" This was greeted by blank stares. All the anticipation, just for this? Without any words of explanation, she went to her room and pulled together everything she owned,and even some that she didn't,and moved out with it.

The next morning, Kumatsurou felt as if some sort of a weight had been lifted from the household. _She's gone. If Nii-san had only stayed a few more days, she would have gone, then he could've stayed._

Following the departure of the demon-queen, Kumatsurou found life a lot easier. His father was a much easier person to live with, and he found himself enjoying this new life, but there was always the part of him that wished that Toushirou had stayed just that little bit longer.

Several years on, he heard rumours from within Seireitei that some kid had become a Shinigami, and was the youngest ever to graduate from the Academy they ran. _Could it be Nii-san?_ Kumatsurou was certain that this kid genius _had _to be his brother. The rumours continued, and this child prodigy was also the youngest ever to become a captain of the legendary Gotei 13. _I know that _has _to be Nii-san._ It didn't take much to convince him, so then Kumatsurou himself joined the Shinigami Academy, like his brother before him. Like Toushirou, he also found it relatively easy, and within a year, he had graduated.

* * *

"…And that's what happened to me… What about you Nii-san? Where did you go?" Toushirou didn't respond, so many things had happened to him, but did he really want to share it _all?_ With his brother perhaps, but there were parts of it which he had no desire to make known to Matsumoto. Knowing her, the whole of Soul Society would know about it within the hour if he told her. 

"Well… after I left…" He stopped. Turning to the door of the office, he called out lazily, since he had already identified the body on the other side of the door. "Come in…"

Hinamori Momo stepped in, Vice-captain of the 5th Division. "Hitsugaya-kun, I…" She stopped when she saw the stranger. "Who's he?"

"For the millionth time, I'm a captain as well you know… I mean, you don't go around calling out 'Aizen-kun', or 'Kuchiki-kun', do you?" Secretly he didn't really object at all to the nickname, but he did have a reputation to maintain. "And this is…"

"Taichou's twin brother!" Matusmoto, unable to contain herself, squealed out. "Aren't the pair of them CUTE!" Kumatsurou smiled at the vice-captain's antics. _She really likes getting on Nii-san's nerves. _

"Hey, I'm Hitsugaya Kumatsurou." He grinned as he introduced himself to the shocked Hinamori.

"Hitsu… Hitsugaya-kun's brother? You have a brother? How come you never told me about it all this time!" She put on her best glare as she challenged Toushirou, who stood up and shrugged.

Hinamori was about to tell him off for acting so nonchalant about it when the same fact seemed to hit both her and Matsumoto. The two female vice-captains burst out laughing and snickering. Matsumoto, unable to control her laughter, collapsed onto the couch, trying to catch her breath.

"What's so funny!" Toushirou was getting more annoyed by the second. Why did these two always have to act like that?

"You… You're older, hehehe, than Kumatsu… Kumatsurou-kun right?" Matsumoto managed to squeak from her couch as the laughter subsided for a moment. Toushirou nodded, followed by Kumatsurou, who grinned. He was beginning to realise what the two girls thought to be so hilarious. At this confirmation, both Hinamori and Matsumoto broke out in giggles again, even louder than the first time.

Toushirou's eyebrow twitched. "You two gonna tell me what's going on before I throw you out the window?"

This simple threat did little to calm the two down, but after several more minutes of continuous giggles, Matsumoto explained. "It's just that… just that…" She broke off into helpless laughter again as Hinamori continued.

"Just that… he's taller than you Hitsugaya-kun!" And so he was. Kumatsurou was a good 3 or 4 inches taller than Toushirou, which made the boy captain look more like a dwarf than ever.

* * *

**Stuff:**And there we have the next part. Wasn't sure if I should add Toushirou's story, but it seemed much better to finish the chapter at this point. Oh yeah... can anyone think of another way of distinguishing between the two apart from their first names? Can't run around with two Hitsugaya-kun's, can I?

Hope you enjoyed it, too bad the review take a while to actually come up. I don't know whether or not to shoot myself for writing this yet...


	4. Memory Lane

XDDDD! Only one person reviewing… Hehehe… obviously this sucks... but hey, thanks Sweet Hikaru-chan! Now, onto the next chapter thingy!

**Intro: **Not much to say.. just read and find out I guess, but I did end up throwing some HitsuHina in, not enough to obsess over though... and of course...

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Bleach or any of the characters etc.

* * *

Toushirou scowled even more deeply. "Shut up. It's not _that_ noticeable!" 

The two vice-captains shook with silent laughter as Matsumoto answered. "Yeah it is… shame on you Taichou, I thought a boy genius would realise when he's obviously shorter than his younger brother…"

Matsumoto felt herself being pushed out of the room by a furious Toushirou, followed by Hinamori who was still giggling softly. Slamming the door on the two vice-captains, Toushirou sat himself down in his chair and turned back to his brother, who was still grinning at what had just happened. Toushirou glared at him. "Told you you're always grumpy about something…" Kumatsurou stopped when his captain's glare grew even colder. "Relax! Relax… I wouldn't tease you about it and stuff anyway, Nii-san."

Toushriou didn't reply but instead, walked over to the door, leaned down to the keyhole and screamed into it. "I TOLD YOU NOT TO LISTEN THOUGH THE KEYHOLE MATSUMOTO!" He was answered by a shriek, followed by the sound of two certain female vice-captains giggling as they ran away from the office door. Heaving himself back into the chair, he sighed. Why did Matsumoto have to always invade his privacy? "Anyway, you wanted to know what happened to me in all this time. Well, after I left…"

* * *

The sun was still rising as a young boy ran through the town. He ran as if he was a hunted animal, running from an unseen predator. Toushirou kept on running, even though he was already tired. _Kumatsurou was the runner, not me, _he thought to himself as he ran, trying not to think of the brother he would probably never see again. _I will never go back to that place, _he swore to himself, this oath was all that kept him going, until he reached the border of the 41th District. Finally, he collapsed, and lay on the riverbank, breathing heavily as the sun shone high in the sky. 

A short while later, he was lying down, daydreaming, something he hadn't done for years, when he felt a sharp jolt on his side and when he opened his eyes, he found a young girl with her hair tied up in a bun lying across his body.

"Gomen nasai! Gomen nasai!" The girl screamed as she tried to get herself untangled from Toushirou. The boy genius felt like screaming himself, but refrained from doing so, for a few reasons. One, because he wasn't one to usually start screaming, and two, the words he felt like screaming probably weren't entirely appropriate. The strange girl finally managed to get up off of Toushirou, and bent over almost double as she apologised. "Gomen nasai! Gomen nasai! Gomen na-"

"Shut up already." Toushirou interrupted, already bored with the girl's never-ending torrent of apologies. He pushed her off of him, and she landed in the river. Pulling herself out, she stared in dismay at her kimono, itwas drenched. Toushirou seemed unimpressed. "So, what do they call you? Bed-wetter?" He didn't really know why he called her that, but the soaked kimono made him think of it.

She blushed as she shook her head. "No, I'm Hinamori Momo."

Toushirou shrugged. "Close enough, Bed-wetter Momo. Hitsugaya Toushirou." His tone was still cold, he was hoping she would take the hint and leave him alone, but she seemed to either not care or she was too dense to do so.

"So, um, what are you doing out here all by yourself?" She hesitated before adding, "Shirou-kun?"

He scowled. "Don't call me that. And I'm not doing anything, obviously."

She shrugged. "Shirou-kun fits you. Your name's too long anyway, and why are you all by yourself doing nothing?" Toushirou didn't answer. In truth, he was quite surprised that this girl had been able to remain defiant about the nickname, even under his icy glare, andcontinue with her interrogation at the same time.

Sighing, he answered, as he stared out across the river. "I ran away. I used to live in this hell hole and I hated every minute of it, so I left." He stopped. From what he had seen of the girl so far, she wouldn't be satisfied with this hasty answer, but he didn't really care. He had never before met a person who could outlast him when it came to acting bored and ignoring others. He hadn't met Hinamori Momo before though.

Hinamori opened her mouth to demand a fuller explanation from the kid, but she shut it suddenly as a thought came to her. "So… Shirou-kun doesn't have a home now?"

"Don't call me that, but yeah, I don't."

"Then you can come stay with me!"

"No way! There is no way I am going to be spending the rest of my days living with a bed-wetter. I'm not coming and that's final!"

Ten minutes later, Hinamori Momo was pushing a blushing Hitsugaya Toushirou forward to meet her parents as she exclaimed happily. "This is Shirou-kun! He has no home, so I invited him to stay with us!" Toushirou was gaping as he tried to retort, but Hinamori's mother quickly cut in.

"Of course! Such a cute young man as well! You can stay with us for as long as you want, and Momo could do with a younger brother." Still Toushirou couldn't speak, he was still shocked by what had just happened. After he had delivered his ultimatum to Hinamori by the riverbank, she had responded by forcefully dragging him all the way back home. Despite his continual struggling, he found to his great astonishment he couldn't escape the grip of the determined young girl. Now, he was still reeling in shock from what had happened as he was ushered upstairs into a small room next to Hinamori's. "This will be your room Shirou-kun." Hinamori's mother informed him.

"Actually, it's Toushirou, Hitsugaya Toushirou. Hinamori just… keeps forgetting." He didn't know why he was making up such a lame excuse, because after all, he _did_ hate that nickname, and Hinamori _had_ been bugging him since he had met her, at least, that's what he _wanted_ to think. But he had little time to ponder over this little problem, as HInamori burst into the room not long after and dragged him outside again, proclaiming that he should get to know the "other people around here".

After an hour or so of meeting various adults, Toushirou suddenly felt a whole new sympathy for animals kept in captivity, Hinamori had treated him like a sort of attraction, and had paraded him around he neighbourhood. However, something else had also bugged him. Every one of the neighbourhood friends he had been introduced to had been an adult. "Don't you have any friends who are… your age?" Hinamori blushed.

"Well, Shirou-kun, you and I are actually the only kids around here." _We're the _only _kids here? That's impossible…"_ However, after several weeks of this new life, he found that Hinamori's words were true, everyone around was at least in their 40's it seemed, so he often found that Hinamori was his only source of company.

He brought it up with his new foster parents one night, and found that they had been wanting to do something about it for a long time. "We always suspected that Momo needed some other kids her age to play with, but she always kept quiet, and never once told us that she felt bored or anything."

"Well, she is." Toushirou wondered if Hinamori ever said _anything_ to upset her parents, or any other adults for that matter. Even with him, whom she was starting to treat as an annoying little brother, she rarely said anything to anger him, even the nickname she used, he was getting accustomed to the sound of it, and found that he didn't detest it quite as much anymore.

Toushirou's confrontation with her parents had the desired effect. The whole family moved away to the 25th district, where there were a lot more children in the vicinity. The two siblings enjoyed their new home much more, for there were always kids who they could play with, and some they would've preferred to stay away from. There were a group of kids who ruled the area, feared by all the other children, Hinamori and Toushirou usually steered clear of this small group of troublemakers, but one day, they had no choice…

"Hey look! It's the Crybaby taking her baby brother out for a walk!" The kids teased Hinamori and Toushirou unmercifully. Hinamori's eyes began to water. Although she could be tough sometimes, she found situations like these unbearable, and usually broke down, hence the cruel nickname. At the sight of Hinamori's distress, Toushirou's blood boiled.

"Shut up and leave her alone, Big mouth."

"Oh look! The crybaby's baby brother wants to stick up for her…" The leader snickered, staring down at the defiant Toushirou.

"I'll make you pay. For making Hinamori cry, and for that remark about me…" Toushirou's voice was icy cold and his glare would've frozen a geyser, but the offending kid didn't seem to notice. It wasn't until Toushirou landed a blow in his large overinflated stomach, that he didn't act quite as jauntily. "Now piss off before I do something worse to you…" Toushirou was eyeing a large tree branch that had fallen, and edged towards it. The remaining kids took the hint, and the leader, left without a single reinforcement, hastily made his retreat as well. Toushirou bent down to comfort Hinamori, who was still sobbing. "Hey, you can stop the waterworks now, Bed-wetter."

"Thanks, Shirou-kun." Toushirou merely shrugged and headed for home, with Hinamori following him. The next day, Toushirou noticed that Hinamori seemed to have gained a deeper respect for him. Outside, he put on his normal mask of indifference, but inside, he felt gladdened, and he smiled to himself. Despite his initial reluctance, he had been secretly wanting Hinamori to notice him more, and for her to respect him. Also, he still hadn't shown anyone his academic abilities yet, but that could always wait until another day.

* * *

As Captain Hitsugaya finished his story, there was a small movement behind the mouse hole in the wall behind the desk. Vice Captain Matusmoto smiled as she moved her ear away from the hole. She was standing in a lowered area, so she only had to bend down slightly to listen at the hole. She knew that her Captain knew about her listening in the keyhole, but he had never once suspected that the mouse hole in the wall was actually another one of her spying mechanisms. She turned around to Hinamori, who had refused to spy on the captain and his brother as they talked. 

"You should've listened Hinamori, you would've heard some pretty interesting stuff." She grinned gleefully. Hinamori remained defiant.

"I don't want to spy on Hitsugaya-kun, if he wanted to tell me that stuff, he would." Matusmoto smiled again as she thought of what she had just overheard. _I don't think he'd tell you in _that _much detail though Hinamori, especially not those parts where he admitted to enjoying your company…_

Kumatsurou listened intently to his brother's tale, he had always wanted to know what had gone on between the time Toushirou had run away and when he became a captain, but there was still more to find out. "So what about when you became a Shinigami, Nii-san?"

Toushirou sighed. There wasn't much to tell, really. "I just joined the Shinigami Academy along with Hinamori, and graduated faster than anyone else had ever done before. I was also the youngest person ever to become a captain. Then, yeah… that's about it." Kumatsurou accepted this without much question. His brother had never been one to elaborate, and he could always bug him later to find out the finer details, especially those that concerned the girl Hinamori.

"So Nii-san, do you like Hinamori-fukutaichou?"

Toushirou's face had turned a brilliant shade of red as he answered. "Wh-wh-what? Of course not! Y-y-you insane!"

* * *

**Stuff: **There, hope you guys liked it! All one of you... :D 


	5. Captaincy

**Intro: **Hello there... more reviewers! Obviously HitsuHina is good stuff, makes note to chuck in uber mushy bits later on but for now, no romance in this chapter, need to move the story along unfortunately... However, stay tuned for the next one, because I think I'll make most of that one HitsuHina and OtherhitsuMatsu

Oh yeah! Haven't been getting any questions about it, but just in case some of you are uber-confused by this strange timeline here, the first 2 chapters are like... the past.. duh... and then the next two are also in the past, but not quite as much, and now from here on, its going to be taking place just after the SS arc.

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Bleach.. etc.

* * *

As the last of the captains assembled, Commander General Yamamoto called the meeting to order. "As you all know, after the betrayal of Aizen Sousuke, Ichimaru Gin and Tousen Kaname, we are now in need of three new captains. Naturally, the first candidates would be the respective vice-captains of these three squads." He turned to the vice-captains, who were also attending the meeting. "Kira, Hinamori, Hisagi, would you have any objections to this?" The three vice-captains considered the offer for a few minutes, then each of them gave their reply. 

"It would be an honour to replace Captain Ichimaru, Captain Yamamoto Genryuusai." A few of the captains nodded their approval.

"Yeah, I'll take Tousen's place. Still can't believe he left us like that though…" Hisagi's answer was far less formal than Kira's had been, but no one really minded.

"Um… I've decided, that I will not take the place of captain of the 5th Division…" Hinamori's quiet answer was met with an eerie silence.

"_Not _take it up you say?" Yamamoto inquired. Hinamori nodded.

"I just feel that I can't take up the position of captain, especially in place of Aizen." All those present began to murmur amongst themselves, but were silenced as Yamamoto knocked his staff on the ground.

"Very well, since Vice-captain Hinamori has decided to reject the position of 5th Division captain, we now have a vacancy. Do any of the captains have people in mind that they feel would be able to fill this position?"

"I would nominate Abarai Renji." The captain's stared in surprise at Kuchiki Byakuya as he gave his recommendation. No one had ever known the nobleman to support his vice-captain, especially after the meeting where he had insisted Abarai be thrown out for fighting the drifter, Ichigo.

"I second that…" Kyouraku called out lazily. Abarai was definitely one of the best candidates for the position.

Hitsugaya stirred uneasily, he wondered if it would seem like favouritism if he spoke what was on his mind, but then again, he was a member of his own squad. "I would like to nominate Hitsugaya Kumatsurou, 3rd seat of the 10th Division." Soi Fong raised her eyebrow. _His brother?_ Matsumoto looked on, feverishly hoping that the young boy she had come to like over the years would be accepted.

"Are you sure he is capable of the position of captaincy? As your brother, I'm sure you would tend to judge him favourably, even if you don't wish to." Yamamoto's tone was accusing, but Toushirou didn't back down.

"I'm certain he can handle it."

After some silence, Ukitake agreed. "I agree with Captain Hitsugaya, after all, Kumatsurou _is_ his twin brother, and should be able to handle the job as well as Hitsugaya has." Toushirou didn't show it, but he felt extremely grateful to Ukitake for his support.

"Very well, Hitsugaya Kumatsurou will also be another to be considered for captaincy of the 5th Division. Are there any more recommendations? From Vice-captains perhaps?" The meeting continued, several names were mentioned, some accepted, and some turned down. When the meeting had finally ended, Matsumoto ran to keep up with her Captain as they headed back to the 10th Division quarters.

"Well Taichou, not bad. So Kumatsurou-kun will become a captain as well?" Toushirou made no attempt to answer, so Matsumoto kept talking to herself. "But getting past Abarai-kun could prove difficult…" When the two of them reached the building, Toushirou didn't enter, but kept on walking. "Taichou…?" Matsumoto opened her mouth to ask more questions, but understood instantly when she saw Hinamori standing in front of the white haired captain. Opening the door to the office, she turned and called out, "I'll go in and get the bed all warmed up for you if you want to bring her in later Taichou!" She retreated inside hurriedly as Toushirou turned and gave her his patented death glare.

The next day, a message came around, from the Commander General himself. "This is a message to all whom it may concern, in two days from now, there will be a tournament where all the candidates nominated during the last captain's meeting will have to face off to decide who will get the position of captain of the 5th Division." Kumatsurou frowned when he saw it.

"I have to prepare in two days? Nyeh… I'm not ready yet!" Matsumoto went up to comfort the panicking boy as he paced around the room.

"Don't worry Kumatsurou-kun, you'll do fine." She ran her fingers through his blue hair, while at the same time pushing him over to her favourite couch. "You should sit down and relax, you'll do horribly if you get too worked up about it." Kumatsurou sighed and sat down. It wasn't too long before he had nodded off. Toushirou came into the room and raised an eyebrow at Matsumoto. "You're making him as bad as you are, just don't start offering him drinks…" He remarked before leaving the room. Matusmoto turned back to the sleeping boy. _Aww… he's so cute when he's sleeping. Even cuter than Taichou sleeping! Although, I haven't seen Taichou sleeping before, but I'm sure he'd look pretty cute, all kids look cute when they sleep. _Matsumoto sighed as she sat down at the desk. So much had happened since Kumatsurou had joined the 10th Squad.

After he had joined, it didn't take very long for him to rise up in the ranks, until eventually, he became the 3rd seat. It was really quite amazing to see how fast he had grown power-wise, and he was so different to Toushirou as well. Toushirou was always bored, always indifferent, always mean in his own little way, but Kumatsurou was different. He was always interested in the things that went on around him, always curious, always bright and cheerful, and had seemed to take a special liking to his vice-captain.

On the morning of the tournament, Matsumoto was snoring loudly on the couch when a rough shake awakened her. Opening one eye sleepily she looked up into the unblinking eyes of her captain. "Get up."

Yawning, she dragged herself outside, and followed the two Hitsugaya's as they made their way to the main court for the tournament. She couldn't help giggling as she saw the two walk side by side. "You know, I don't think those vitamins you got from Captain Unohana are working Taichou…" As Toushirou glared at her, she could see a faint tinge of red in his cheeks.

"Vitamins? What vitamins? What's she talking about Nii-san?" Kumatsurou looked at his brother expectantly.

"Nothing."

"You know he's still taller than you…"

"Shut up Matsumoto." The vice-captain said no more, but contented herself with another quick glance at the two brothers before guffawing again. When they reached the main court, even Toushirou was surprised. There were _crowds_ of people spectating. The news had spread quite quickly it seemed, and at least half of Soul Society's Shinigami were watching, Toushirou reckoned.

"Let the tournament for the captaincy of the 5th Division begin!"

Matsumoto watched Kumatsurou as he sailed through the first few challenges relatively easily. She smiled as she saw him fight. _He's really good with that sword of his…_ She frowned a little as she saw Renji complete his matches with similar ease as well. As she had predicted, Abarai would be the most difficult opponent.

It was time. The final battle. Vice-captain Abarai Renji against Hitsugaya Kumatsuoru, 3rd seat of the 10th Division. As the two faced each other, each preparing to draw his sword. "I don't think we need to waste our time. Let's just release our Soul Slayers right away." Abarai was confident as he smirked at Kumatsurou. He had never seen the sword of his opponent, but he was certain he could defeat it.

"That's fine with me Abarai." Kumatsurou's voice and tone were different from normal. His voice was still light, but it definitely carried a challenge. The referee, the 1st Division vice-captain, ran through the rules, including the most important one.

"And since only Abarai has achieved Bankai, he will not be permitted to use it in the battle." Renji nodded, he had had no intention of using his sword's most powerful abilities anyway. "Begin!"

"Howl, Zabimaru!" Renji's sword glowed as it mutated into its saw like segments. Renji smirked as he waited for his opponent to do the same.

"Surge through the storm, Raibikaritatsu!" Dark clouds filled the sky, despite it having been fine a moment ago. Kumatsurou drew his sword, and with one thrust, tossed it up into the sky, where a bolt of blue lightning struck it. The sword began to glow with the electrical energy, and a dragon emerged, composed completely of blue lightning, while a thin trail of lightning spiralled around its body. Toushirou smiled as he saw the dragon. Raibikaritatsu, the most powerful lightning elemental blade, and brother to Hyourinmaru. Renji would have his hands full with this battle.

Renji wasted no time with his attacks, whipping Zabimaru around in succession. To his surprise Kumatsurou appeared to be able to avoid his attacks easily. _You won't get him that easily, Kumatsurou's quick as lightning, he's probably faster than any of the vice-captains, although not as good as the captains, _Toushirou thought to himself. The many spectators watched on in awe as the small kid danced around Zabimaru's attacks, however, he never moved into range for an attack.

"Shift!" The sword in Kumatsurou's hand dulled, and finally fell limp. It had morphed into a black whip. _His attacks are getting more accurate. I wouldn't be able dodge too many more of them, _he thought. As Zabimaru came back down for yet another strike, he leapt out of the way, and flung his whip around the sword. Renji's expression was still one of shock as the large dragon that had been following Kumatsurou's movements entered the whip, travelled along its length, along Zabimaru's body, and hit Renji. "You sure you want to keep on going Renji? After a direct hit from Raibikaritatsu like that, you'll be finding it hard to move." Abarai Renji found those words to be true. After the dragon had struck him, it soared back into the sky, but Renji found himself struggling to move. His body was paralysed, not completely, but almost.

"NO!" There was no way that he was going to surrender to this kid. He wanted that position, he wanted to be Hinamori's captain, perhaps more than anyone else, even Captain Hitsugaya. Pulling Zabimaru loose, he uttered only one word. "Ban-kai…" Toushirou stared in horror as Renji called forth Baboon King Zabimaru, the most powerful form of his soul cutter. _No way, he's not allowed to! Even with Kumatsurou's speed and Raibikaritatsu's ability paralyse, he can't survive against a Bankai…_ The large skeleton snake that was coiled around Renji was about to strike, when a loud horn sounded.

"Abarai Renji has hence been disqualified for breaking the rules and summoning his Bankai. Therefore the winner is Hitsugaya Kumatsurou!"

Kumatsurou's head was still spinning as he made his way back to the 10th Division office. _I won?_ Even if it had been due to the disqualification of his opponent, he never would have guessed that he would become a captain like his brother. _This has got to be a dream…_

* * *

**Stuff: **Hehe... done! If I feel like it, might get the next mushy chapter up by today, or I might start working on another fic I've been thinking about... 


	6. Spying

**Intro: **Okay, here's some fluffy lovey stuff for you people out there, obvious pairing, HitsuHina, and also KumaRan

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bleach, anime, manga, characters, place, washing detergent, etc.

* * *

Kumatsurou and Matsumoto were left alone in the room. Toushirou had gone off to find Hinamori after the tournament had finished. He was still slightly dazed from the previous day's events. Against all odds, he had managed to win the right to captaincy of the 5th Division. Matsumoto came in, holding a bottle of sake. "Come on Kumatsurou-kun, have a drink with me! It's time to celebrate!" She sat herself down on the couch, rather heavily, and patted the seat beside her, beckoning to Kumatsurou to join her.

"I'm not supposed to drink, Matsumoto-san."

"Aww, don't worry, Taichou won't know."

"Bet he would somehow find out…" Matsumoto sighed, her hopes of getting the young boy drunk with her had now gone down the drain.

"Alright then, but come and sit with me anyway Kumatsurou-kun. Although I should call you Hitsugaya-taichou now shouldn't I?" Kumatsurou shrugged.

"Whatever's fine, I like Kumatsurou-kun better anyway, I don't want to hear you call me taichou, sounds so weird." Matsumoto giggled again, and then hiccuped, the sake had made its way through her body already.

"You know you're really cute!" Kumatsurou looked taken back. She thought he was cute? He wondered if she felt the same way he had felt about her ever since they had met though. "You know, you're a lot like Taichou, guess that's one of the reasons I like you so much." _Oh great, she likes Toushirou._ "I mean, I respect Taichou a lot, even though he's just a little kid, but I dunno, there's something different about you, which sorta, makes me like you in a different way."

Kumatsurou 's heart flipped. _She actually likes me?_ Smiling, the newly appointed captain sat down beside Matsumoto, put his arm around her shoulder, and whispered. "I like you too, Matsumoto-san."

As the two drifted off to sleep on the faded couch, Hinamori pulled her eyes away from the mouse hole. Toushirou was standing behind her, still dazed at what he had just discovered. Hinamori had called to him in the morning, and told him to come meet her. When he reached the 5th Division Office, she dragged him all the way back to his own headquarters. "Why the hell did you get me to go all that way if you wanted to come back here?" He demanded. Hinamori put a finger to her lips and beckoned to the boy genius.

"In here Shirou-chan." To his surprise, he found the two of them going through a secret door in the wall, and heading down a passageway, which ended rather abruptly.

"Where the hell are we Hinamori? What is this place?" He was about to say more, but Hinamori clapped her hand over his mouth and pointed towards a hole in the wall, slightly above eye level for Toushirou. _What's that hole doing in the wall?_

"This is Matsumoto-san's special place. She uses it all the time to spy on you when you kick her out." Hinamori's voice was a whisper as she said this, but Toushirou caught every word. _So _that's _how she ends up finding out everything I do in my office… I'm going to kill Matsumoto, always pretending to be so good, then she just comes waltzing into this little hole of hers to look out for more gossip about me… I swear I'll… _"Shirou-chan! Snap out of it!" Hinamori was shaking the boy's shoulders. "It's time for the fun to begin." A second hole was next to the one Hinamori was stationed at. Putting his eye to it, Toushirou found himself staring at Matsumoto, who was on the couch as usual, and he could hear Kumatsurou's voice, even though he couldn't see him.

"I'm not supposed to drink, Matsumoto-san." _Damn straight, don't corrupt the kid, Matsumoto. _

"Aww, don't worry, Taichou won't know." _Hell yes I would, if you made him drink as much as you do, I'd be able to smell the alcohol from a mile away._

"Bet he would somehow find out…" _Yeah... thanks to your little spyhole Matsumoto._

And now they were sitting on the couch together, his arm wrapped around her, having just confessed their feelings to each other. Hitsugaya Toushirou sweatdropped. His own brother, pairing up with his vice-captain? This _had _to be a bad dream. "Aww… they look so cute together, don't they Shirou-chan?"

Toushirou was still in a state of shock but replied anyway. "You knew this was going to happen, didn't you Hinamori?"

Hinamori smiled as she replied. "Of course Shirou-kun! Anyone could see that those two were meant to be, I mean, ever since he joined the 10th squad, Kumatsurou-kun's been stealing glances at Matsumoto-san. You'd have to be _blind_ to not have noticed."

Toushirou sweatdropped as he heard her reasoning. _I never noticed… does that mean I'm blind?_ However, he decided not to relate these thoughts to Hinamori. "So, Shirou-kun, what do you think about relationships?"

"Wha-wha-what!" The innocent question caught him totally off guard, and he was now gaping in shock, his mouth moving up and down several times as he tried to recover from the surprising question.

"Never mind… You don't really like me, do you Hitsugaya-taichou… Even in Rukongai, after we met, and you came to live with us, you always rejected my little signs of affection, the nickname, everything. You didn't even tell me you HAD a brother, much less a twin." Hinamori's back was turned to him, but even the usually insensitive boy genius could tell that she was crying as she said it, and tears fell to the ground in front of her. Toushirou was speechless. Was it true? Did he really hate Hinamori that much?

"Hinamori… I…" But it was too late, the vice-captain had left, tears streaming from her eyes as she ran out of the 10th Division building. As Toushirou walked into his office, he was met by a horrendous noise. The intertwined snoring of Matsumoto and Kumatsurou was blasting at him on max volume, and it was anything but harmonious. He stared out the window sullenly. _I do like you, Hinamori…_

After a few weeks, another captain's meeting was held. The three new captains looked forward to it, after all, it was their first captain's meeting, well, as captains. Yamamoto wasted no time in getting to the point. "As you are all aware, all the captains have the ability to release their Bankai, except for Zaraki Kenpachi, but he is a notable exception that I'm certain does not apply to any of our new captains. Therefore, we must implement a training program for the three of you to achieve Bankai. However, it is a long and tedious process, requiring up to 10 years, but hopefully, under the guidance of the existing captains, we can reduce that amount by a year or two. Therefore, I would like to have some volunteers who would assist with this training."

"Excuse me." All eyes were turned to Kuchiki Byakuya. "Although the conventional training period is indeed 10 years, there is a method of achieving Bankai in 3 days." A mass of murmuring broke out, 3 days was an exceptionally short time.

"Silence! Byakuya, I have always had much faith in your words, but even I would find that impossible to believe. 3 days is an exceptionally short period of time to achieve 10 years worth of training. What proof do you have of this miracle method of yours?"

"Sir, I do not know the finer details of it, but the drifter, Kurosaki Ichigo, fought me with his Bankai, which Shihouin Yoruichi helped him to obtain in the space of 3 days. I would contact her to ask about this unorthodox method of training." The murmuring continued, to make contact with, much less ask for assistance from those who had been exiled was unthinkable, and now, without the Central 46, Yamamoto would be the one to make the decisions. After a moment of deliberation, he gave his decision.

"Very well. We will invite Shihouin Yoruichi to return, and get her to show us this method, so the new captains can achieve their Bankai quickly and then spend more time perfecting it, for it is inevitable that Aizen will return, and we must be as prepared as possible."

When the meeting was adjourned, Kumatsurou and Toushirou walked off together. However, when they reached the 5th Division building, Kumatsurou didn't stop. "Aren't you going back to your office now? You belong to the 5th Division now you know…"

"Actually, I said I'd go hang out with Matsumoto for a bit, so I gotta go to the 10th Office to find her." Kumatsurou didn't bat an eyelid as he said this, he had actually become used to showing affection to the attractive vice-captain in public, so this was no big deal to tell his plans to his brother.

"I... see…" At the thought of the couple, Toushirou's thoughts wandered back to Hinamori. She had barely spoken to him in the past weeks, and when they met, she would only utter a polite greeting before scurrying away.

"By the way, what did you do to Hinamori-san?" Toushirou stiffened at the question, did he really want to tell his brother?

"Nothing."

"Aww... come on Nii-san, I know something happened between you two. She barely ever talks to you these days, and every time I try to talk to her about it, she just turns back to her paperwork. I never knew you had to do so much work as a captain." He sighed, the first couple of days he had found himself swamped with paperwork, primarily because he had to catch up on a lot of it from since Aizen had faked his death.

"She… asked me about dating, then I got kinda, surprised about it and she misunderstood me…" The twins had stopped walking now, and Kumatsurou was now staring at his brother.

"Aiya... Nii-san, for a boy genius, you don't know a lot do you?" Toushirou felt a surge of indignation at this comment.

"Hey, you're a boy genius as well!"

Kumatsurou shrugged. "Well, I'm not as much of a genius as you, and I know this stuff…" Toushirou fell silent, his brother was right there. "Just go and apologise to her, and tell her how you really feel, I mean, it is pretty obvious, everyone knew how worried you were after Aizen's attack, even though you were pretty badly hurt yourself, you still wanted to be at her side the whole time. It's like, so obvious Nii-san! But Hinamori's not going to believe or know that unless you go and friggin tell her!" Kumatsurou was starting to sound a bit agitated. Giving relationship advice wasn't his strong point. "That's what I'd do anyway…" Shrugging, he left his brother to ponder over what they had just discussed, and ran off to find Matsumoto.

There was a timid knock on the door. "Who is it? Come in!" The door opened to reveal Hitsugaya Toushirou. "Shirou-cha… Hitsugaya-taichou…" Hinamori tried not to show her surprise at the captain's presence. If it had been the Toushirou she knew, he would have either knocked loudly or just barged in, and she would have prepared herself to meet him, but she had definitely not expected him to come knocking so quietly.

"Hinamori… I want to tell you something." Hinamori felt her cheeks burn. Even though she had convinced herself that Toushirou had no feelings for her, she hadn't been able to let go of the feelings she had for him. Looking up, she saw that his face was also a bright red as he struggled to put his words together, something she had never known him to do. "I uh… I…"

"What is it…?" She hesitated before adding. "Shirou-chan?"

"About that other day… when you asked me, about relationships..." Hinamori held her breath as he continued. "You… just caught me off guard, I didn't mean to offend you. I'm sorry."

"Shirou-chan…" She breathed. So what did this mean? Did he have feelings for her as well?

"And… I wanted to tell you that… I… I… well… I like you…" Hinamori was frozen to the spot as he said this, and after he finished, her face was white with shock.

Sighing, Toushirou turned around to leave. _I guess she doesn't like me after all… fat lot of good Kumatsurou's advice did… next time I see him I'll… _But the captain had no more time to think of ways to kill his brother, for the next moment, a flying ball of human flesh flew into him, and he struggled to keep his balance, before finally falling onto the floor, with a delighted Hinamori on top of him. "SHIROU-CHAN!" She wrapped him in a tight embrace as she lay on him.

Smiling, Toushirou returned the hug. "Bed wetter Momo…"

Outside the door, Kumatsurou and Matsumoto had their faces to the floor as they peered under the crack of the door. "I always wondered why you ordered that new door last week Kumatsurou… especially when I heard it had an extra large crack at the bottom. Seemed strange to want the wind to come in under the door..."

Chuckling, Kumatsurou replied. "I guess I just take after you, I needed some way of spying on our office, in case something happened with Toushirou, and I believe he already found out about the mouse hole idea."

"Hmm… I'll have to talk to Hinamori about that, giving away my secrets like that, maybe I could get a one sided mirror installed, then I won't have to bend down to that mouse hole anymore…" Kumatsurou grinned as he heard her suggestion,

"Better be careful Yumichika doesn't find it, otherwise he'll spend the rest of his life in your office."

The two of them were interrupted by a surprised voice, belonging to one of the lower members of the 5th Division, who just happened to be passing by the office door. "Kumatsurou Taichou, Matsumoto Fukutaichou, what are you doing on the floor?" Both Kumatsurou and Matsumoto stood up hastily, muttering something about trying to see if the floor required cleaning.

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**Stuff: **Mmm... yeah... that's done, next is... well... you'll have to wait to find out won't you?


	7. Return of Sandalhat

**Intro: **Haven't updated in a while... but got around to it finally! Here it is. Oh yeah! And decided to make this officially a HitsuHina fic, well... with bits of KumatsurouxMatsumoto as well of course.

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Bleach

* * *

Kumatsurou and Hinamori were awakened when a messenger came to the 5th Division Office. "Hitsugaya-taichou! Hinamori-fukutaichou! Yamamoto Genryuusai-taichou requests the presence of all captains and vice-captains at the Western Gate of Seireitei immediately." Hinamori and Kumatsurou both hurried to make themselves presentable, and in 10 minutes were making their way to the gate.

"Why do we have to go there Kumatsurou-taichou?" Hinamori walked quickly to keep up with her captain.

"I have no idea Hinamori, but we'll find out soon enough."

In the 10th Division Office, the messenger found Toushirou sitting at a desk, and Matsumoto sleeping on the couch, with the front of her kimono opened a considerable amount. Trying to refrain himself from staring, he delivered the message. "Good, I finally have an excuse to wake that lazy pig up, every person who passed by the room couldn't stop staring… Oi! Matsumoto! Wake up and cover up already, we've got to go see the Commander General!" Matsumoto yawned and got up slowly, and looked down in surprise.

"Oh… how did this get undone? Now I'll have to take it off and do it up again…" Toushirou's neck reddened as he stepped out of the room.

On their way to the gate, Toushirou and Matsumoto met the two top officers of the 5th Division, and they made their way down together, Matsumoto still checking to make sure her kimono was secure.

When they reached the gate, they saw that they appeared to be the last to arrive. Yamamoto glared accusingly at the four of them, and Toushirou uttered a quick apology. "Sorry sir, Matsumoto had a little mishap and needed some extra time to fix herself up." Yamamoto opened his mouth, about to question the late arrival of the 5th Division captain and vice-captain, when the gates opened, and three people stepped inside the walls of Seireitei.

The first was a dark-skinned, long haired female, whose movements were feline. Several people heard Soi Fong curse under her breath as the woman approached the party. Behind her were two males. One had short orange hair, and carried what resembled a large butcher's knife on his back, covered in bandages. The other was dressed casually, with sandals and an ugly pinstriped hat to match.

"What are the other two doing here, Yoruichi? I was under the impression that YOU were the one invited to return."

The cat-woman didn't bat an eyelid as she purred. "Don't worry your head over it Yamamoto-san. You said you wanted help with the Bankai training. Urahara's the one who invented the method, and he and Ichigo are the only ones who have ever been able to achieve Bankai successfully using this method. Seemed natural to bring them along…"

Yamamoto remained unmoving. "Kurosaki Ichigo I do not mind, he is a substitute Shinigami for Soul Society, however, I must remind you that Urahara Kisuke has been exiled, and to set foot here means death, for both him and the ones who accompany him."

Yoruichi smiled slyly. "Well then, he'll just leave then, but me and Ichigo here will go with him, then you can go off and wait ten years to train your new little captains Yamamoto."

The great mind of Yamamoto was thinking. Since the Central Government 46 still hadn't been replaced, he was in charge of Soul Society at the present. The other captains felt that it was an easy choice.

_None of them should be allowed in. Urahara's been exiled. The kid is a drifter. Yoruichi is just despicable._

_Of course they can come. They'd better not start any fights though, the 4th Division's full enough as it is. _

_The brat is back. Let them in, it doesn't matter, but he makes a move on Rukia and he dies. _

_Who cares about the exile, its to help the kids train isn't it? Then we can go find Tousen… _

_Ahhh… let them in, let them in old man Yama, I'd love to invite Yoruichi-san over for a drink or three... _

_Wow... that Yoruichi chick is hot, let her stay dammit. _

_Normally I wouldn't care, but Kumatsurou needs the training. _

_ALRIGHT! Ichigo's back. I'll make sure he stays long enough to fight me. _

_Urahara… come back and see all my wonderful innovations, so much more incredible than that crap you used to make. _

Finally, the old man delivered his decision. "Very well, the exile on Urahara Kisuke will be lifted for now, and should this miracle method of his succeed, it will be lifted permanently." Yoruichi smiled deviously, she had worked her magic wonderfully. Soi Fong marched off. It was too much to bear. She had stayed there for the important parts, and now she was going to get out of here before she lost control of herself.

The next day, many of the residents of Soul Society received a morning wake-up call. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Come back here DAMMIT! We're gonna fight whether you like it or not." Zaraki Kenpachi ran after the screaming Ichigo, while Yachiru sat on her captain's back, screaming as well.

"WHEEE! Ken-chan's gonna fight Icchy again!" Ichigo ran into the courtyard, and Yachiru leapt off her perch and ran to the centre, while Zaraki chased the orange haired teen around and around the perimeter of the courtyard. "Ken-chan! Ken-chan! He's the best! He is gonna kill the rest!" Yachiru screamed happily as she jumped and down. Cheerleading was one of her favourite things to do ever, it was just that she never got much of a chance to do it. "Ken-chan! Ken-chan! Do it now! Kill him quick no matter how!"

_That girl is seriously on drugs or something_. Ichigo thought as he ran around and around, trying to escape his pursuer. _She's even happier than Inoue, and that's impossible. _In a desperate attempt to escape, Ichigo vaulted over the wall, while Zaraki rammed straight through it. Yachiru screwed up her face. "Why'd you go running away again? Now I have to chase after you Ken-chan!"

"Ah Kurotsuchi-san! Such _interesting _technology you've developed in your reign as Head of Institute!" Kurotsuchi smirked as Urahara displayed his reverence at the various things he was seeing in the Institute. His smile drooped slightly at Urahara's next comment. "But, you seem to focus so much on killing people, and mutilating them, don't you Kurotsuchi-san? Such a strange hobby."

"It is not a hobby, you fool! I'm sure you would have realised in your time as chief researcher, it is impossible to conduct research fully without complete analysis of the subject, or in normal terms, cutting them up and putting them through a blender."

"Aiyah Kurotsuchi-san! That's not true, I developed all my projects leaving all my subjects intact, which I can't say for your work, Kurotsuchi-san..."

Kurotsuchi Nemu stood at the door, listening to the two researchers air their views of each other, and their works. _Is it just me? Or do both Mayuri-sama and Urahara-san have really strangely high voices for men? Is it possible that ALL researchers have strange voices? And why does Urahara-san use Mayuri-sama's name all the time? What's wrong with using a pronoun?_ Her thoughts were cut short by an impatient shout. "Nemu! Get your ugly ass over here!" The girl walked over obligingly. "This, bet you never saw anything like this, did you?"

Urahara sounded bored as he declared, in his sing-song voice, his opinion. "Aiyah… another human experiment? It is pretty well done though, by your standards anyway…"

"WHAT!"

"The faux body technology is of course highly primitive, but the soul, well, I must admit it's quite impressive indeed, far better than the mod souls we created, which were worthless. It's almost… average! Congratulations Kurotsuchi-san!" Mayuri was seething. This… this ass, had the gall to come into the Institute he owned and ran, and tell him that his brilliant work and innovations were _primitive_?

"So, what have you done that it so great then!" Mayuri shot at the sandal-hat wearing shopkeeper.

"Ah, depends on your definition of 'great', Kurotsuchi-san. By my standards, I would say the three day Bankai training, the faux bodies I produce, and perhaps even the Hougyoku, although it is a dangerous substance. However, by your standards Kurotsuchi-san, there would be…" Nemu walked away, shaking her head as Urahara started going through a long list of complicated inventions and creations that she had never even heard of. When she returned, an hour later, having gone through her father's paperwork for him, Urahara was still prattling on to a very discomforted Mayuri. "And… there's also the funny little rabbit thing I made 20 years ago which walks around by itself! There you have it Kurotsuchi-san, all the things that I've done which would be 'great' in your terms."

As Ichigo ran, he could feel Zaraki gaining on him, even his breath seemed to be getting stronger. He ran into the courtyard again, and started going around and around, much like before. "Ken-chan! Ken-chan! You can do it! When you're done you'll make him… poo it!" She finished with a spectacular jump, somersaulting before landing with her legs spread wide apart. A pair of lowly Shinigami stared at the vice-captain.

"Yusajika-fukutaichou… what are you doing?" The two froze as Yachiru turned to them, glaring.

"Don't. Interrupt. Me. When. I'm. Cheering. For. Ken-chan." Her faced relaxed slightly as she came up with an idea, and an appropriate punishment. "I need pompoms." The two stared at her in disbelief.

"S-s-sorry mam…?"

"Pompoms! You know, things for cheerleaders to wave around!" Without warning, she ran up to the two of them in a flash, and grabbed onto their collars. "I just found myself two beautiful big pompoms!" She screamed happily as she took her place in the centre of the courtyard again. "Ken-chan! Ken-chan! He will bash! Coz Unohana will pay him cash!" As she screamed out her latest encouragement poem, she waved the two unfortunate Shinigami around, bashing them into the floor several times, since they were at least twice her height.

Zaraki stopped his bloodcrazed pursuit for a moment and looked at Yachiru strangely. "Unohana's payin' me nothin'. I'm doin' all her stuff for free you know, then she, eh, pays me back in other ways…" He coughed slightly as he broke off. He looked at Ichigo, who had taken the opportunity to gasp for air and try to catch his breath. "Hey Yachiru, you should cheer for Ichigo a bit, he seems pretty tired…" He turned back to Ichigo. "Ready to start again Ichigo?" He grinned evilly as he said this, and ran after the teenager again.

"Icchy! Icchy! Do your best! Ken-chan's sword will pierce your chest!" Yachiru's two pompoms were starting to bleed quite heavily, but the small vice-captain didn't seem to notice it, in fact, she just kept on flinging them around, cheering alternately for Ichigo and Zaraki. "Icchy! Icchy! You are great! Ken-chan will kill you at this rate! Ken-chan! Ken-chan! He's the man! He'll kill Icchy coz he can!" Yachiru maintained her cheerleading performance, thinking up more and more cheers, which seemed to be getting stranger and stranger by the second.

Yoruichi and Soi Fong were facing each other, each glaring at the other, daring them to start the fight. The tension was intense, it was a battle of wills. "Yoruichi-san! Soi-san!" Urahara sang out, and both the ladies sweatdropped at his oblivious attitude.

"We're in the middle of something Urahara." Yoruichi's voice was sharp, she hoped he'd take the hint and leave them alone.

"Oh? Allow me to help you then!"

"Shut up! You shouldn't be allowed back in, so don't go pushing your luck. I'm not as forgiving as Yamamoto-sama." Soi Fong glared at him, but he didn't back down, it would take a lot more than a stare from an angry woman to make him quiver.

"Ah yes, don't worry about it! You should worry about the two of you! All this tension, it can't be good for the heart. You know what you should do? You should kiss and make up!" Urahara grinned happily as he gave his suggestion. Both Yoruichi and Soi Fong had the same reply. SMACK! Urahara found himself flying backwards and into a wall. Yoruichi brushed herself off.

"Don't ever mention that again Urahara." The idea of kissing Soi Fong made her skin crawl. It was just like Urahara to come with up a sick twisted idea like that.

"We're both leaders of the militia. You expect women of such a position to kiss and let a matter go that easily? That's an insane notion, almost as bad as Kurotsuchi-taichou."

Yoruichi's eyes narrowed. "He's probably worse." Soi stared at the face of Yoruichi once more. So many memories flooded through her, so many emotions. Both she could do without. This was Yoruichi. The one who had betrayed her completely, who had broken her heart, who had shattered all her hopes in one day. But she was also the one she had admired, the one she had worshipped, the one she had idolised. _So who is she? Traitor or Idol?_

While this silent battle was taking place inside of the usually emotionless 2nd Division captain, Yoruichi looked at her, pityingly. She had always guessed that her actions would have upset the young warrior who had served under her, but she had never known how much it would impact on her. During their previous battle, before Aizen's treachery had been made known, Soi had asked a question. _"Yoruichi-sama, why didn't you take me with you?"_ Yoruichi herself didn't know the answer to that question, but it had plagued her ever since she had returned to the living world. Why hadn't she taken Soi with her? Had it been fear of what might happen? Or had it simply been to keep her out of trouble? Guilt built up inside of her. _Maybe I didn't make the right decision back then…_ "I'm sorry… Soi Fong."

The hard 2nd Division Captain looked up, her eyes brimming with tears. The memories and emotions she still felt when she saw Yoruichi had taken over. This was the person she had admired for years, and sworn to protect no matter what, and 'no matter what' included betrayal. _"I'm sorry… Soi Fong"_ Her voice shook slightly as she replied. "I am too… Yoruichi-sama."

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**Stuff: **Um.. think I was going to write something here... but have forgotten now. So basically.. review please! And thanks to all those wonderful people who have already!

Oh yeah! Just remembered after about 10 minutes of thinking... that ending is kinda weird. It doesn't actually seem to make much sense... sorry. But I was kinda strained for an ending, without starting up something new in this chapter.


	8. Bankai

**Intro: **Um... yes... another chapter! Start of training for little Kumatsurou. He gets to fight Ichigo... interesting stuff, sorta, I think... The single '-'s are just to show a jump in time, since it would be boring to type in every thing that happens every minute of the time.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bleach. That's about all. I don't own that much more either.

* * *

It was Day 1. Toushirou stood there, holding up the large, rather ugly-looking doll. _Why did that thing have to be taller than me?_ Even though he couldn't see them, he could hear Matsumoto, Yoruichi and Hinamori stifling their laughter as they watched the doll dwarf him completely. _Why the hell did they have to come in and watch us, stupid Yoruichi, she's way too convincing._ Even the boy genius' iciest glare had had no effect on Yoruichi as she came up to him to ask if the three of them could watch the training session. In fact, her smooth words and purring voice had melted Toushirou's icy defences in an instant, and he had allowed them in without much resistance.

Kumatsurou looked at the doll his brother was holding. _Let's go._ Jumping up, he slammed his sword into the doll. For a moment nothing happened, and Kumatsurou looked at Toushirou questioningly, but the genius had no answers. Suddenly, there was a brilliant flash of light, and from the doll, a large dragon appeared, a pale yellow in colour. It writhed about, before twisting itself around a nearby rock. "Raibikaritatsu…" Kumatsurou breathed. It had been quite a while since he had seen his soul cutter's true form. Toushirou glanced at the dragon, and immediately the same thought that ran through the minds of Matsumoto and Hinamori ran through his. _It looks exactly like Hyourinmaru… _

"Hey, Raibikaritatsu, you know what this is about right?" The large head of the dragon nodded slightly. "Good, then, yeah, go on and put Kumatsurou through the toughest training you can think of."

"Hey! Nii-san!"

Toushirou smirked. "Couldn't resist…" The great dragon's voice boomed out like thunder, yet its mouth didn't move at all.

"If you are ready then, Kumatsurou, we… will… begin!" Raibikaritatsu roared, and dark clouds filled the 'sky' of the training room immediately. Flashes of lightning could be seen, followed almost immediately by numerous crashes of thunder. "Survive this storm, and hit me with your sword." It sounded easy, almost too easy. So far there had only been a few flashes of lightning, that was easy to avoid. However, in a few seconds, the storm worsened greatly, until it was a howling hurricane. Lightning flashes were regular, and there were many of them. Avoiding them was no easy task, and with the added effects of the howling wind, it got even harder. Kumatsurou groaned as he dodged yet another bolt of lightning by an inch. _This is a lot harder than I thought it would be…_

Toushirou ran over to where the three girls were. He hadn't expected this. Raibikaritatsu's true power was frightening, even he could feel goosebumps forming. Luckily, the storm was focused on the small area in which Kumatsurou was fighting, and the shelter that the four of them were under was only pelted by light rains. "Aiyah! Kumatsurou-taichou's soul cutter is so scary Shirou-chan!" Hinamori whimpered.

"Why don't you ever address me properly, Momo?"

"Because you don't deserve it…" She waited for Toushirou to scowl before giggling. "Shirou-chan's a _much _better name for my little boy genius." She hugged him tightly, oblivious to the spectators.

"Taichou… Hinamori-san… it's probably not best to get all cuddly and stuff when we're in the middle of a storm." Matsumoto sounded impatient. Really, after all that time she had spent convincing Hinamori to go out with Toushirou, and now that they were, they couldn't seem to stop the affection, even for a moment.

"Heh… leave them alone Rangiku-san, cute little lovebirds they are should be allowed to do as they like in a storm. They won't be going anywhere soon anyway, this storm's gonna go on for another 2 days. Lots of time to…" She was silenced when Toushirou gave her his patented death glare, but only for a moment, "Lots of time to do their, couple-ish things."

"Come, little boy, if you cannot dodge these small bolts of lightning, you are not worthy of wielding my power, you are not worthy of Bankai." Kumatsurou grimaced. He had been _so_ close that time. He had been metres away from the dragon when an unexpected bolt of lightning had thrown him back. _Time to try again._

_-_

Kumatsurou lay back as he sat in the hot water. It was miraculous how quickly the warm water seemed to heal the various burns he had received from all the lightning strikes. Matsumoto tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to look up and splutter in surprise. When he looked up, he couldn't see anything, just two, huge, bouncy things, strapped in tightly by a red bikini. "Ra-rangiku!" The blonde smiled as the blue haired captain jumped across to the other side of the spa. "Don't EVER do that again!"

"Aww… come on, stop pretending you didn't enjoy it, you perverted little kid." Yoruichi walked up behind her, smiling in her evil way. "I'm sure you just loved that view didn't you? All you guys are soooo perverted, just like Ichigo, kept pretending he was totally innocent. I mean, come on!" Both Yoruichi and Matsumoto hopped into the spa, groaning as they did so. "Ahh… that feels great!" Kumatsurou was still gaping like a fish when Toushirou and Hinamori approached, fifteen minutes later.

"Shirou-chan! Let's join them!"

"No way. I am not undressing to go sit in hot water."

"Yes you are!" Hinamori put on her world famous pout and Toushirou tried to look away.

"No… and stop doing that every time you want me to do something I don't want to do. It's such a cheap shot."

"…" No answer. Toushirou knew that if he turned around, he would be hit by her pout, full blast. The white haired captain tried to resist, but when she started whimpering expertly, he gave in.

"All right! All right! I'll do it, just don't look while I change…" He added darkly, before disappearing behind a rock. When he came out, even Kumatsurou couldn't suppress his laughter. He was wearing a pair of swimming shorts, light blue with lots of cute snowmen dancing around on it.

"KAWAII! Shirou-chan! Those swimmers look so cute on you!" Matsumoto started to giggle, but stopped hastily when Toushirou glared.

"Nii-san… Those are, well…"

"Shut up, Hinamori bought them."

-

"So, you got it under control now?" Toushirou asked his brother, as he stood, sword in front of him, held in a defensive stance.

"Yeah… just about." The 3 days had passed, and Kumatsurou had been successful, but now he had to train to get his Bankai under control. "One more time, please…"

Toushirou didn't answer, but disappeared from view as he used the Flash Step to get behind his brother, he swung, only to find Kumatsurou's sword blocking it. "Not bad."

"Thanks. But now we have to start. Surge…"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The two brothers looked around in surprise as a screaming Ichigo burst into the room. "YOU'VE GOT TO HIDE ME IN HERE. THAT ZARAKI KENPACHI HAS BEEN DRIVING ME CRAZY TO FIGHT HIM AGAIN, AND I WOULDN'T LAST ANOTHER SPAR WITH THAT LUNATIC! I'LL DO ANYTHING… ANYTHING! JUST HIDE ME FROM THAT CRAZY BASTARD!" He launched himself at Toushirou's feet and hugged it fiercely. "Come on Hitsugaya! You gotta help me out here!"

"Fine fine. Just get off my friggin leg already. We have the training room for the rest of the day, so you can stay here I guess. Kira and Hisagi weren't going to come in until tomorrow or something, and Kumatsurou and I were planning to train anyway. But now that you're here, YOU can fight with him."

Ichigo sweatdropped. "Oi… you're a genius, least that's what I heard. I'm not going to run away from a fight just to get in another one."

Toushirou smirked. "Fine then, but you said you'd do anything. And personally, I think fighting Kumatsurou would be a lot easier on the body than fighting with Zaraki."

"Fine, I'll do it." Ichigo was annoyed. It turned out that he had to fight anyway. Hopefully this kid he was supposed to fight wouldn't be awfully strong though, then he could get it over and done with quickly. "Oi, Kumatsurou, let's go!"

Kumatsurou nodded and jumped forward to face Ichigo. "This is to train for Bankai, so I think we should release our soul cutters right away."

Ichigo smirked. "One step ahead of ya kid. Zangetsu's already released."

Kumatsurou's eyes darkened, as he prepared for battle. "Alrighties. Surge through the storm, Raibikaritatsu!" From the sword erupted a large dragon, with a spiral of blue lightning surrounding its long body. Kumatsurou stared at his opponent. "Let's get this started, Ichigo."

Sword clashed against sword as the two Shinigami tried to cut each other. Toushirou looked at the two, wondering why they were both holding back. Kumatsurou was definitely not fighting at his hardest, his movements were incredibly sluggish for him, and the other guy, Ichigo, for someone who had bested Kuchiki Byakuya, he seemed incredibly weak.

"Forget this. Time to really fight." Ichigo clicked in exasperation as Kumatsurou blocked yet another of his small swings.

"My thoughts exactly. Time to kick up the pace…" Kumatsurou disappeared as Ichigo leapt forward for a swing, reappearing behind him. "Too slow…" Ichigo missed yet again. _Alright then, if that kid's gonna start hopping around with his fancy Flash Step, I'll do it as well…_ And so it became a battle of speed, the two of them appearing for a mere second before disappearing again. They seemed to match each other in speed, they matched each other blow for blow.

When they stopped for a moment, Ichigo glanced at the large dragon behind Kumatsurou, who had barely moved at all since it had emerged. "Oi, Kumatsurou, doesn't that pet of yours do anything? No point in summoning it if it ain't gonna do anything."

"I was thinking to save it for later, but now that you mention it…" Raibikaritatsu reared up, and dashed for Ichigo. Ichigo held up his sword to defend himself from the attack. Kumatsurou smirked when he heard the orange-haired boy's scream. "That was somewhat… pointless. Raibikaritatsu is made of lightning, and well, your blade is going to conduct it quite well. You can't block him with your sword, you're going to have to dodge him…"

"Dodge? I'll need some extra speed for that…" Ichigo bent down, and held his sword out in front of him. "Ready for this Kumatsurou? Ban… kai!" A flash followed, blinding everyone temporarily, but when they could see again, Ichigo was dressed in a flowing black cloak, his sword had turned the darkest black, and it had also shrunk. _That's his Bankai? _Kumatsurou didn't know what to expect from it. Something so small, it couldn't have increased his power by an awful lot, so, that would mean…

Kumatsurou found an Ichigo on his left and an Ichigo on his right, both charging for him. _What the…? _"Like it? Tensa Zangetsu makes me so fast I can almost appear in two places at once." _Such speed. The only thing to do would be to also use Bankai._

Kumatsurou jumped, but one of the Ichigo's slashed at his foot. Kumatsurou felt a surge of pain, and when he looked down, blood was dripping from his foot. When he landed, he turned around to face Ichigo once more. Holding his sword in front of him, he waited until the lightning dragon had flown straight into the sword before muttering, "Ban… kai…"

Dark clouds formed, and lightning struck the ground around him. An extra large bolt of lightning hit the blade of his soul cutter, and immediately, it glowed, before firing off multiple streams of electrical energy. Slowly, the flashing lightning formed a dragon, a differently shaped one. The head was attached to his left arm, and the body twisted around behind him. Two large wings unfurled, and Kumatsurou stood, with a gigantic blue dragon of lightning attached to his left shoulder. The dragon roared, and about 10 metal orbs flew out from its body, each surrounded by lightning. These floated around the blue-haired captain, as if waiting for orders. Kumatsurou smiled as he saw his new sword, it was longer, and sizzled with the same electricity that the dragon was composed of. "This, is my Bankai, Seigyokuden Raibikaritatsu."

* * *

**Stuff: **Hope you enjoyed this little instalment... there's more to come of course. The next few chapters, well, will be more centred on the story, not so much the romance, sorry guys... 


	9. Elemental Battle

**Intro: **Yeah... sorta rushed to finish this, coz I just wanted to finish it and stuff, so it might seem a bit.. incoherent, and not make a lot of sense sometimes, which isn't all that different from normal I suppose... Oh yeah... and I can't really write fight scenes to save my life, so some of this may seem... even stranger than my other strange works.

Oh, and thanks for telling me that anon. reviews was disabled, anGeL Hinaningyou, I had absolutely no idea...

**Disclaimer: **Don't own any of Bleach.

* * *

"This is my Bankai, Seigyokuden Raibikaritatsu." Kumatsurou crouched down, preparing to begin the real fight, the ultimate battle of speed. Toushirou's eyes widened as the two both disappeared from view. _They're both so fast! I can barely keep up…_ Very little could be seen of the battle. While the head of the dragon, attached to Kumatsurou's arm, moved with the same lightning speed that he did, the remainder of his body didn't move quite so quickly, and could be seen twisting around in mid air. 

"Getsu Gatenshou!" Ichigo swung his sword down, and a black crescent of energy was released, slicing through the ground as it sped across the land. Kumatsurou thrust his sword forward, and the dragon behind him shot forward, consuming his arm, his sword, to meet the black wave of energy head on. When the smoke cleared, the blue creature had returned to its comfortable nestling place on the shoulder of the captain. "No… way…" _He managed to block that attack so easily? His Raibikaritatsu isn't even damaged! _Ichigo leapt back onto a rock, taking some time to rethink his next course of action.

"You'll need more than that to short circuit Seigyokuden Raibikaritatsu." Kumatsurou stared at his opponent. So far, neither of them had really been able to hit each other. They had matched each other move for move, and their lightning fast movements had been almost impossible to discern. "Ready to stop playing around and go all out, Ichigo?"

Toushirou couldn't believe his ears. _Faster? Their normal movements have already surpassed the speed of a reasonably high levelled Flash Step. They're almost at the stage where they move faster than light… But Kumatsurou can't surpass that speed, I've seen him train, and even with the incredible speed boost his Bankai gives him, there is no way he could break the speed of light._ He turned around to look at the orange haired Shinigami. _Ichigo, however, I've never seen him fight, would it be possible for him to raise his speed that much?_

"Thought you'd never ask, Kumatsurou." Both the fighters glowed with a powerful aura as they prepared to use their Bankai's full speed. Both Shinigami disappeared from sight once again, and they seemed quite evenly matched, again. However, as the rocks around him were destroyed, Toushirou noticed one fact. As a rock shattered, he saw blood drop on the debris a split second after one of the combatants' swords had destroyed the boulder. _Someone's been hit…_

As he whizzed around the training room, blocking hits from his opponent, Kumatsurou bit his lip as the blood flowed from his right arm. _Good thing that's not my sword arm, but still… Zangetsu's way too fast, even Raibikaritatsu can't match it now. There's only one thing left…_ With one powerful flick, he pushed Ichigo over to the other side of the battlefield. "Raikyuutai!" The dozen or so metal orbs that had been floating around began moving towards Ichigo, shooting out electrical bolts as they did. The orange haired Shinigami dodged a few of them, but a dozen lightning bolts at once was too much, he was finally struck by one. Expecting to feel a numbing pain, Ichigo was surprised. _It doesn't hurt, not at all… What sort of an attack is that?_ He charged forward once more, ignoring the continuous lightning bolts for now, they weren't hurting him, so there was no point in trying to dodge them, he could focus all his energy into attacking. As he closed in on Kumatsurou, he grinned, this was going to be an easy hit, there was no way he could miss at this range, and Zangetsu was faster than Raibikaritatsu anyway.

Kumatsurou sidestepped the mighty swing easily, and grinned at the orange haired Shinigami's look of surprise. Ichigo didn't give up. After all, Kuchiki Byakuya himself had said. _"Miracles only happen once."_ There was no way the same thing could happen again. But it did. Again, the powerful swing of the small black katana was avoided by an increasingly agile Kumatsurou. As Ichigo stopped to take a breath, he noticed that the lightning orbs had stopped their assault as well. Drawing a breath, he asked the question he had on his mind, calmly and quietly. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!"

Kumatsurou was only too happy to explain. "You might not have noticed it, but Toushirou would have. You are the one who's been getting slower, Ichigo."

Ichigo froze. "No way. That can't be possible, I can't be anywhere near my limit yet, I don't even feel tired! Oi, Hitsugaya! Tell him he's mad!"

"It's true."

"No… way… How the hell did that happen?"

"No doubt you noticed these?" Kumatsurou pointed to one of the metal orbs, which was hovering above his head. Ichigo nodded dumbly "Raikyuutai activates these orbs, and they start shooting out lightning with incredible accuracy. You did well do avoid so many of them, but one got you eventually, and that was the beginning of the chain reaction. Even though those lightning strikes barely hurt you, each hit decreased your speed. You were idiotic enough to disregard them as nothing, so many more hit you, and as a result, you've lost over half of your speed. That is the special ability of my Bankai."

Ichigo was struck dumb. Without his speed advantage, he was in trouble. Toushirou was also surprised. He had never seen Kumatsurou use the technique before, it must have been relatively new. _What a strategy! Raibikaritatsu increases his own speed but that Raikyuutai technique also makes the opponent incredibly slow. It'd be hard to beat. _

"Now, you should be too slow to dodge this…" Kumatsurou charged forward, and Ichigo tried to dodge the oncoming slash, but a large wound appeared on his side and blood gushed out. "It's over, Ichigo."

"No… it's not, Kumatsurou," Ichigo was breathing heavily now, "I may be slow, but that's only my body, I can still… do… this!" With a swing, he shot another wave of dark energy at the blue haired captain. Jumping, Kumatsurou scolded himself for his carelessness. While Raikyuutai slowed the opponent's movements, it had no effect on the actual soul cutter and its abilities. That only left one more thing to do.

"Then I'll make sure it's over." Kumatsurou's body sizzled with the electricity that surrounded Raibikaritatsu. The ground began to shake as the static energy from the power-up shattered the rocks around him. Ichigo stared in horror. This had to be some sort of gigantic blast of energy, and in his slowed state, there would be no way he could dodge it, but to block it? Would that even be possible? "Nothing can protect you from the entirety of this blast. Now, the fight ends… here!" As he spoke the last word, he thrust his sword forward, and the dragon that was behind him flew forward, roaring and rearing as it went.

Ichigo held up Zangetsu, ready to block the terrifying power that was heading for him. "It's no use, have you forgotten, Ichigo? Your sword conducts electricity, you can't deflect the entire attack. Ultimately, the result will be the same!" Kumatsurou's words were quite true. Zangetsu fought off the leviathan as it tried to attack, but after 10 seconds or so, it overwhelmed him, and Ichigo was caught in the blast. When the smoke cleared, Ichigo was lying on the ground, in a pool of blood.

"Come on Kumatsurou, let's get the orange haired idiot to the 4th Division, and you too."

"Aww… Nii-san, I don't really need that much help, it's fine! It was only a shallow cut."

"Baka. When you charged up for that last attack, all the extra energy opened the wound up even more. Both you and Ichigo need medical attention, quick." The two were still arguing when they reached the 4th Division, carrying Ichigo between them, which was quite a task in itself, since the orange haired teen was considerably taller than the Hitsugaya twins. "Oi, Isane, get some help for these two!"

"Right away, Hitsugaya-taichou!" The reply was immediate, and Toushirou watched as members of the 4th Division attended to the two wounded Shinigami.

Toushirou watched as Ichigo complained about being injured. Smirking, he couldn't help remarking to the fussy boy. "Look on the bright side you dolt, at least you have an excuse not to fight Zaraki now." Ichigo had no answer.

-

"Kumatsu-kun, you're all beat up! Did taichou really thrash you that bad?"

"No… Nii-san isn't _that _much stronger than me Matsumoto…"

"Then how come he doesn't have a scratch on him? And you're lying here with tubes sticking into you and nice soft bandages wrapped around your body?" She squeezed them, squealing as she did so. "Oooh! They're squishy! They'd make you so much more huggable Kumatsu-kun!" Matsumoto ignored Kumatsurou's cries of protest and descended upon him, wrapping him in a fierce embrace.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" The scream could be heard throughout almost all of Seireitei. "MATSUMOTO! STOP THAT! YOUR BOOBS! THEY'RE SQUASHING ME!" When he was finally released, Kumatsurou rubbed himself tenderly. "That really hurt… you must have reopened just about every wound I had, pressing that hard with your… things." He stopped when he saw Matsumoto turn a bright pink. " Matsu…moto?" She pointed behind him, and he turned around to see a small crowd of dumbstruck 4th Division members, having been attracted by the captain's scream, and they had all seen what had just happened. "Uh… that was… not what you thought it was…"

-

"Baka Kumatsurou. Screaming out about Matsumoto's assets like that. No one else would do that, I wouldn't, I bet even Kyouraku wouldn't."

Kumatsurou could not help retorting. "Kyouraku wouldn't scream… he'd enjoy every moment of it, and you're so short your mouth would be buried in the valley, so no one would hear you anyway." Toushirou glared at his brother, who merely chuckled and ran off while Toushirou chased after him, yelling something about 'not being short'.

"Rangiku-san, is it normal for Taichou and Shirou-chan to always fight like that?" Hinamori looked surprised as Toushirou caught up to Kumatsurou and gave him a noogie.

"Naw… not really, they're brothers, brothers are just like that. It's pretty strange actually." Kumatsurou had stepped lightly out of the way, causing Toushirou to crash into a nearby wall. Laughing, the blue haired boy ran away from the wrath of the white haired one. "They don't get much of a chance to have fun anyway, so we might as well let them."

"But… only Taichou seems to be having fun, Shirou-chan looks really angry."

Matsumoto was unconcerned. "They'll live, Taichou's always upset about something anyway, I wouldn't worry about it."

-

"Ah, you two young boys, training to help young Kumatsurou I presume?" Kumatsurou couldn't hide his surprise, but Toushirou replied in an even voice.

"Yamamoto-dono. What are you doing here?"

"I was feeling a bit bored, and decided… to come help you train."

Kumatsurou couldn't keep his silence any longer. "Train… me? Yamamoto-dono! I couldn't fight you! I'm not strong enough."

Yamamoto chuckled, in that strange old man way of his. "Of course not. What I propose is both of you fight me, and I'll go easy on you. A battle between the elements. Water, ice and lightning against the power of fire. Do you think you can handle it?"

Toushirou looked at his brother. This was his call. It had been a month already since he had fought Ichigo, but still Kumatsurou had insisted on more practice, so they had come here to train together. How Yamamoto had discovered where they were was a complete mystery. "…alright then. We'll do it!" Yamamoto smiled, a rare occurrence indeed.

"Very well. We will commence." Brandishing his staff, he uttered the magic words which caused it to morph. "Disintegrate all existence… Ryuujinjakka!" A flurry of flames appeared from the ground, and engulfed the old man. Even though he could feel that it wasn't at full power, Kumatsurou and Toushirou could not help but feel awed. The oldest and most powerful fire type soul cutter. Its legendary power was frightening, even though they knew he was holding back.

"Soar in the frozen sky, Hyourinmaru!"

"Surge through the storm, Raibikaritatsu!" The two dragons erupted from each sword, and coiled around their masters. Toushirou was first, swinging his sword in one motion to send his dragon of water and ice at the raging ball of flames. Kumatsurou wondered if Hyourinmaru would even reach Yamamoto. There was a small flare, and the flames rose slightly, Hyourinmaru melted away. The resulting water had little effect in dampening the fire. "My turn then!" Kumatsurou directed his dragon at the raging ball of flames also, and the leviathan of thunder shot at the old man. However, a simple movement on Yamamoto's part intercepted the attack, and blocked it.

Both Toushirou and Kumatsurou looked at each other. This was an impossible battle. Ryuujinjakka possessed an incredible power, and there was nothing they could do to stop it. "That is quite disappointing. For a pair of geniuses, I expected more… Still, if that is all you have to give, I'll end this. Now!" With one sweep, the flames raced across the ground. Both boys leapt up, but could feel the scorching heat as it burned them. A few of the boulders melted. The heat was so intense that the boys felt like sitting in a freezer for a few days.

"There's nothing we can do, Nii-san." Kumatsurou was in despair.

"Yes there is. There is, that one thing."

"You sure? We… still haven't tried it fully yet, we don't even know if it could work!"

"Then this will have to be the first field test."

"If you really think so then…" Yamamoto looked at the two in interest. Whatever strategy they were discussing, it would be spectacular, he hoped. "Let's go, Nii-san."

The two held up their swords, so the blades were touching, and an icy blue aura formed around them. Hyourinmaru and Raibikaritatsu, the two great dragons of ice and lightning, shattered and disappeared.

"Surge…"

"… Through the frozen sky."

"Hyoubikaritatsu!" The two of them screamed this last word in unison. Yamamoto watched in surprise as the two swords converged, forming a large bladed sword. A shape began to emerge from it. It was a dragon, made of a surprisingly blue ice, while a trail of lightning spiralled around its body. The united form of the two dragon elemental soul cutters, Hyoubikaritatsu.

"Intriguing. This fusion has only ever been a myth. However, it must be very difficult to obtain. Both the soul cutters and the Shinigami would have to have a close bond, such as in this case. Both swords and wielders are brothers, hence the success of the fusion. The powers it possesses must be great…" Yamamoto had never seen anything like it before in his life, and he wasn't likely to see it again anytime soon.

The twins stood in a battle stance, holding the sword between them. Together, they swung it, and directed the dragon to attack. The gigantic creature roared, and shot forward, Yamamoto braced himself for the attack, but it never came. Before it had reached halfway, the dragon had disappeared. The brothers collapsed, completely exhausted, and lay on top of each other, resting peacefully.

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**Stuff: **Well, there we have it. Review please! 


	10. Ice sculpture

**Intro: **Another chapter... writing quite quickly these few days... because, well, I want to get this done with, so I can start on another one... I could leave this one alone for a while I suppose, but I don't want to have 3 unfinished works to be working on... heheh. So anyway, this chapter, um, a bit of history revealed, and oh yes, Ichimaru, Tousen and Aizen return, although he doesn't play much of a role. Some implied GinxRan though.

**Disclaimer: **The usual. Don't think anyone here would ever claim to own Bleach anyway.

* * *

When Kumatsurou woke up, he was lying in a bed, a hospital room. Sitting up, he looked around him in surprise. "Where… am I?"

"4th Division… baka."

Kumatsurou recognised the voice and the offensive vocabulary immediately. "Nii-san!" He turned around, noting that the burns from the battle had healed as he did so. "What happened? Last thing I remember was… Hyoubikaritatsu…" Kumatsurou fell silent. What had happened in that fight? He knew they had fused their soul cutters successfully, but what had happened after that?

"It worked for a while, then the whole thing just blew up, well, something like that. Haven't seen Yamamoto yet, and according to Unohana and Isane, we had just collapsed from exhaustion. No one else saw it." Toushirou's voice carried a slight bitterness in it. Kumatsurou knew why. _All those hours we put into it, especially Nii-san. All the time we put into this fusion attempt, and then it stuffed up. He must be feeling really bad about it…_

"Shirou-chan! Are you alright Shirou-chan!" Hinamori burst through the ward door, and leapt onto his bed. "I was so worried! What on earth happened? People are saying that you fought Yamamoto-taichou! You couldn't have been that stupid could you! I thought you were smarter than that! Answer me Shirou-chan! Why won't you answer me? Did they take your brain out? Did they fry it and turn it into mush? Shirou-chan!" All this was said in one breath, and when the anxious vice-captain finally stopped, Toushirou backed away slowly.

"Baka Momo. I'm fine. And I couldn't answer you because you wouldn't shut up."

"Don't be so mean taichou! She was just being concerned about you!" Matsumoto sounded reproachful as she approached the beds.

"Hey! Hey! What about me? Isn't someone worried about me?"

"Eh… not really Kumatsu-kun. You're more mature than taichou, I can trust you to take care of yourself." Toushirou glared at the blonde vice-captain, who giggled. "Well, I think it's true."

"If I were you… I'd" But no one got a chance to hear what Toushirou would do if he was about twice as tall, grew his hair out, dyed it, and grew large boobs, because at that exact moment, a piercing alarm began to ring.

"Alert! Alert! This is an emergency situation! This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill! The traitor Aizen has been spotted at the East Gate of Seireitei, with a bunch of Menos. Everyone is to report to their battle positions immediately! I repeat, this is NOT a drill!"

Toushirou looked at his brother, then at the two females. "Let's go, Kumatsurou. Matsumoto, Hinamori, stay behind us, the Menos are too strong for you to fight!" The blue haired boy nodded and leapt out of the bed, following his brother as the two of them ran from the 4th Division hospital to the East Gate, Matsumoto and Hinamori following at a distance.

"Ah… look what we've got ourselves here? Two little vice-captains, running after they're even littler captains, aren't ya a bit inexperienced to be goin' off to fight those nasty Menos?" Matsumoto would have recognised that voice anywhere. Stopping, she looked up, and there, on the tower of the building, she saw it. _Him_. The pale blue hair, tightly shut eyes and never-fading smile.

"Ichimaru…" Hinamori shrieked when she saw him. "Go Hinamori-san, go find taichou, and tell him I'll be there later. I have something to do first."

"But, Rangiku-san, I should help you! You can't survive if you-" She was cut short by the determined beauty.

"No, don't bother, just go off and tell them I'll be there soon." As Hinamori nodded reluctantly before speeding off, Matsumoto watched as Ichimaru leapt deftly to the ground.

"Well there Rangiku, you're bein' awfully brave-like, to stay with me here, all alone and the like."

"Gin, we need to talk…" Matsumoto froze, this man, this man that she had known from childhood, and had always loved as a friend, what had happened to make him this way? The Gin she knew, was a strange, secretive boy, but always on hand to help his friends, this he had proved to her many times in their childhood. _Why… why did you betray everyone?_ She stared at him, wondering the same thing that she had been wondering since he had left Soul Society, "Why… why did you do this, Gin?"

For once, the smile faltered. "Now now Rangiku, I can't be goin' off and tellin' ya all my secrets, can I?" He paused, before grinning again. "I have my own reasons for doin' this, and I've been havin' no regrets about it at all."

Rangiku, lowered her gaze. "Again… once again… you never used to tell me everything Gin, and you still won't now. I thought of you… almost as a brother. You brought me that food on the day we met, when I was starving, you saved me…"

* * *

"I'm… so… hungry…" A blonde girl was lying on the ground, the area around her was barren, the trees were dead, there was no sign of life, no creatures, no plants. After a day of trekking through this wilderness, she had finally collapsed. _What's… wrong with me? You're… not supposed to get hungry in this place. _That was what she had been told. That was the truth she had come to accept over her many years in Rukongai. But suddenly, one morning, she had felt an incessant pang of hunger, which hadn't left her, even as she tried to eat more than normal. It was overpowering, and after a day of looking for food, she had succumbed to it. As she lay there, she groaned. Her lips were so parched, her throat so dry, there was no way she'd make it. Then she heard it. 

"Here… eat." With what little strength she had, the girl looked up into the face of a pale haired boy. "The fact that ya fainted from hunger means… ya have it too right? Power?"

"You… too?"

The boy smiled, it was a smile that she would always remember for the rest of her life. "Yeah… me too." He smiled even more widely. "Ichimaru Gin. Nice to meet ya."

As she ate the food that Gin had with him, Matsumoto found her energy returning. The boy, his eyes were strange, always closed it appeared. With her mouth full of food, she questioned him about this. "Mffhow do ymmfffou see if your mmmfeyes are clommffsed?" He seemed to have no trouble answering the curious question.

"Easily. Don't worry about it Rangiku." As they spent more time together, one thing became blatantly obvious. _You never tell me anything, Gin_.

* * *

"I guess I shouldn't have expected you to tell me this time either." Matsumoto looked at the former 3rd Division Captain, who appeared to be shifting uncomfortably. 

"Ah Rangiku… I wouldn't worry 'bout it too much, ya probably wouldn't wanna hear my answer anyway." He was about to continue, when a quiet voice interrupted.

"What are you doing Gin? We have our orders, and you were never told to fraternise with your childhood sweetheart." Tousen Kaname stepped out of the shadows, his dark face angry.

"Tousen-taichou!" Matsumoto's heart sank, this man would be much less lenient with her than Gin was. She drew her sword, preparing to defend herself.

"It is useless. Break her limbs. Suzumushi Form 2: Benihikou." Matsumoto couldn't even scream as a wave of swords materialised above her and descended with lightning speed. A gasp escaped her as her sword fell from her bloodstained hands, the swords from Tousen's attack piercing her body.

"MATSUMOTO!" Kumatsurou ran up, a look of shock and horror on his face. Hinamori had come running to him and Toushirou, saying something about Matsumoto and Gin. Although he had hurried back as quickly as he could, he could do nothing to stop the body of the woman he loved being turned into a pincushion.

"Young Hitsugaya… it seems you've become a captain in our absence. However, that does not change things. Leave now or suffer the same fate as she did."

Kumatsurou's fists were clenched, his voice shook as he spoke. "I'll… make you pay for what you did to her… what you did… to Rangiku!" An explosion followed, and when the smoke cleared, Kumatsurou was standing there, his captain's coat lay in pieces on the ground, and he was surrounded by a field of crackling electricity. His usually gentle and laughing eyes blazed with a silent fury that could be likened to fire.

_No way… his power, it's increasing rapidly! This… he's far beyond captain level now! _The blind traitor could not hide his surprise, and ever-smiling accomplice now wore a frown. "I'll… kill you!" Kumatsurou raised his arm, and with a flick of his wrist shot a massive blast of lightning at the two Shinigami. The power was comparable to the final attack of his Bankai, Seigyokuden Raibikaritatsu, but it required absolutely no charging. Tousen and Ichimaru dodged the blast, but only by an inch.

"What's happening to him? That power… it's incredible!" All around him, the stones were disintegrating. Kumatsurou's body shot out snakes of lightning, which blasted at the structures around him. "He's totally out of control!"

Kumatsurou screamed, and another massive blast of electricity was shot out, this time demolishing the nearby 9th Division building. Toushirou and a frightened Hinamori ran up to the scene of destruction. "Shirou-chan… what happened to Kumatsurou-kun? Why's he… destroying everything?"

Toushirou didn't answer, instead, his eyes were full of fear. _No… not again! This can't be happening… not again!_

It had been back in their early Rukongai days, before Toushirou ran away and met Hinamori, while they still lived together. Toushirou had only ever seen it happen once, and after that day, he hoped that he would never again see it happen.

* * *

"Baka Kumatsurou… why do you always play around with that locket?" 

"You know why Nii-san… it's our one last memory of Okaa-san…"

"That doesn't mean you play around with it all the time. Grow up already."

A new voice joined their argument. "Now looky here… it's the baby and his brother out for a walky again. And whaddaya know? The blue haired baby's got his priceless little necklace again!" Toushirou sighed. Jimekko always had a tiring habit of showing up whenever his foghorn voice wasn't wanted.

"What is it this time, Foghorn?"

The bully's eyes narrowed. "I've told you not to call me that, punk. As punishment, I think we'll take away your baby brother's play toy." Grinning, the older boy advanced on Kumatsurou and snatched the locket away.

"No! Give that back to him, stupid Foghorn!" Toushirou got up angrily, he wanted to bash the guy up, but Jimekko was twice his size, and had a bunch of friends equally as large.

"Make me. " The neighbourhood bully held up the locket tauntingly, before he did the unthinkable. Grinning evilly as he did it, he raised his hand high above his head, and threw the locket down with all his might. Toushirou watched as the item seemed to fall down in slow motion. Kumatsurou got up from his seat, also slowly, and ran towards the falling object, trying in vain to save it. Still in slow motion, the artifact crashed, disintegrating into many pieces. Both the boys looked at the many pieces in horror. Although he rarely showed his true emotions, Toushirou was just as attached to that old memoir of their mother as Kumatsurou was. He opened his mouth to scream at the evil Jimekko, but someone beat him to it.

"I'll make you pay for that…" Toushirou stared in surprise as his brother stepped up, his voice full of a silent fury that he had never seen before. Before his very eyes, he saw sparks, he rubbed his eyes several times, but nothing changed. Sparks were being emitted from Kumatsurou's body. Several people screamed as Kumatsurou took a step forward, a coil of lightning around his left arm. "You are going to regret that… for what little life you have left!" A blast of lightning came from his arm, a rather small one, but powerful enough to seriously injure the boy.

"Kumatsurou! No!" Toushirou ran up to this different brother of his, it seemed as if this was a completely different side to him, and not a very likeable side to his character. Pushing his brother over, Toushirou managed to redirect the blast, which hit a tree, causing a branch to fall next to Jimekko. The guy looked scared, for several reasons. Most obviously, because of the demon-like boy in front of him, and secondly, all his goons had run away already. He followed suit, and ran away.

"Get OFF!" Toushirou felt himself being thrown back by a blast of lightning, and looked in horror as Kumatsurou advanced. "You let him get away… so now I'll have to make do with you I guess… Prepare to-" He stopped in mid-sentence, and Toushirou looked perplexed, but only for a second. Kumatsurou fell forward, and collapsed on the ground. Toushirou ran over to him, breathing a sigh of relief when he found that he was still alive, and apparently back to normal.

* * *

_No… I can't believe this is happening again. Kumatsurou… and he's so much more powerful now, that time, he had no training and he could blast that tree, now, who knows how much damage he'd cause?_ "Gin! Get backup, we need to get out of here…" Tousen looked frantic as he tried to avoid another blast, which snatched at his clothes. 

"One step ahead of ya…" As Ichimaru replied, two beams of light descended surrounding Tousen and Ichimaru.

"Negation! The Menos are recalling them."

"Shirou-chan, what are we going to do about Kumatsurou-kun?" Toushirou grunted. There was only one thing to do. Otherwise this anger-controlled Kumatsurou could reduce the entire Seireitei to rubble. He had to be stopped, even if drastic measures were required.

"Get away Hinamori."

"What?"

"Get away. Otherwise, I'll get you as well." Without waiting for an answer, he drew his sword. There was a flash as he released his Shikai. "Bankai!" The ice dragon flashed, and ice appeared all around the captain. Large pillars of ice formed in an instant, and a dragon of ice, quite similar to Seigyokuden Raibikaritatsu, was now perching on the right shoulder of Toushirou. "Daiguren Hyourinmaru." _I'm sorry... Kumatsurou… but this is the only way._

The rage-filled captain was still blasting away randomly at his surroundings when the attack hit him. In an instant, he was encased in a block of ice, and the rage stopped. Toushirou ran over to inspect him, and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the face of his brother had returned to normal. No longer did it bear the lines of fury and hatred that it had bore a moment ago, no longer were the eyes emblazoned with a desire to destroy. The old Kumatsurou was back, the happy, even tempered boy captain was back.

"Shirou-chan! Over here!" Toushirou looked behind the ice sculpture, and saw a terrible sight. _Matsumoto… no…_ Thelong haired vice-captain lay, in a pool of her own blood, with numerous swords still sticking out of her body. _That was what made him lose it… I should have guessed. When he thought he had lost another loved one, he just… snapped. _

"Hinamori! Call for Unohana immediately! These two are going to need some serious medical attention." Kumatsurou was safe for now, just frozen, but Matsumoto needed help desperately. In a few minutes, a large flying form could be seen approaching, with two figures on its back.

"Oh my, how did this happen?" Unohana was shocked, but directed her vice-captain to help Matsumoto.

"Matsumoto was attacked… by Ichimaru and Tousen, probably, and Kumatsurou… something terrible happened, and I had to freeze him."

"I see… Toushirou-taichou, did Kumatsurou-taichou sustain any injuries apart from the severe frost bite he'll have after he thaws out?" Toushirou shook his head. "Good. Then we only have to tend to Matsumoto-fukutaichou, and place Kumatsurou-taichou in a warm place and wait for him to thaw before we treat his injuries." Toushirou couldn't believe his ears, they were seriously going to just wait for him to unfreeze?

* * *

**Stuff: **Yeah.. bit of a strange ending, but hey... this chapter was getting quite long, (2800 words about) so I decided to end it quickly. And yeah...I dunno, the 'dark evil side' thing is kinda cliched I guess, but it seemed work pretty well to me. 


	11. Hospital stuff

**Intro: **Another strange instalment of this equally strange fic! Yay! Recovery, bit of fluff, maybe a bit of OOC-ness, but then again, we've never had the chance to see Toushirou show his sibling love...

**DIsclaimer: **I am Kubo Tite. I own Bleach. Full stop. If you believed that... well, you're gullible... O.O

* * *

Kotetsu Isane looked through the doorway, and saw two people sitting on either side of a hospital bed, each holding one of the patient's hands. It had been a week since the invasion, and the 5th Division Captain's rampage had been made known to the entire Soul Society, through the grapevine. Although she hadn't been there, she and her captain had been told the truth by Hitsugaya Toushirou-taichou. Isane had found it strange when he told his tale. Out of the two Hitsugaya brothers, she had always thought that Toushirou was the more difficult one, the one most likely to snap some day, but as it turned out, she had been wrong. So much for 'Psychology for Dummies'. Her gaze drifted to the still form of Kumatsurou. When he had been delivered to the 4th Division, he had been encased in a block of ice. Now, after a week, he had completely thawed out, but something was wrong. For some unknown reason, even though his body temperature had been back to normal for a day or two, the boy still hadn't woken up.

Hinamori heard a sound and looked up to see the 4th Division vice-captain standing there. Releasing her captain's hand, she approached her fellow vice-captain, her eyes brimming with tears. "Isane-san, how long will it be until Taichou wakes up?"

Isane looked pityingly at the girl. This was the second time she had lost her captain, and although she wasn't as attached to her new one as she had been to Aizen, it was obvious she still cared deeply for the blue haired brother of her boyfriend. "I don't know, Hinamori-san. In any normal circumstance, Kumatsurou-taichou should have woken up by now, but for some strange reason, he hasn't. I'm afraid we can't do anything to help him, but just wait." Hinamori looked at the floor. _What's wrong, taichou? Why won't you wake up? _

Toushirou stared at the body in front of him. The electric blue hair, the torn captain robes it wore, the tightly shut eyelids, replacing the vivid emerald eyes that usually glowed with mischief and fun. _Kumatsurou… come back to me… _Although the tough 10th Division captain rarely admitted it to anyone, he adored his brother. The annoying brat who delighted in teasing him over his height. "Shirou-chan…" Hinamori's voice was soft, and choked with emotion. Toushirou didn't to look to know that she had been crying.

"Let's go, Hinamori, Kumatsurou doesn't look like he'll be going anywhere." The captain swept out of the room, with Hinamori in his wake. He stopped outside the door, barking at the nearest 4th Division member he could find. "Oi… you there, if Kumatsurou wakes up or shows any signs of improvement, you're to tell me at ONCE got it?" The Shinigami he addressed, who happened to be the loveable Yamada Hanatarou, shivered as he nodded.

"Y-yes… Hitsugaya-taichou… sir…"

-

There was a knock at the door. "Come in." It was Hanatarou. Toushirou raised his eyebrow at him. "Well? Any news?"

"Yes… I mean, no, I mean, yes there is, but I mean…" Toushirou was getting impatient, his eyebrow twitched.

"Just tell me dammit, forget the 'yes's', 'no's' and 'I mean's' already."

Hanatarou nodded, eager to stay on the captain's good side. "Um… the news which I have is good, but not exactly what you wanted to hear and-" He squeaked as Toushirou scowled at him, and ran through the rest of his report at top speed. "I've been told to come and tell you that Matsumoto-fukutaichou has woken up and is currently undergoing a check-up." Hanatarou turned and fled, while Toushirou stalked out of the room, heading for the 5th Division to pick up Hinamori.

"Oi! Hinamori! Matsumoto's woken up. I'm going to see her. Coming?" Hinamori had been practising her origami, but came out when she heard the news. The two of them rushed off to the 4th Division.

"Matsumoto!"

"Rangiku-san!" The two of them couldn't hide their surprise when they saw the strange mummy-like creature that was sitting in the bed, surrounded by a trio of 4th Division members. "R-r-rangiku-san?" She was staring at the piles of bandages that were surrounding the body of the vice-captain.

A few hours later, and several layers of bandages later, Matsumoto sat in her bed, with her arm in a sling, and a single layer of bandages around her upper body, but otherwise pretty much unbandaged. A lot less than the 6 layers all over the body before. "So… what happened to you, Matsumoto?"

"It isn't like you to be so concerned, Taichou." She teased, but when she saw the expression on his face, she knew he was being serious, dead serious. She scratched her head with her other arm, trying to remember. "Well, I remember, Hinamori and I were running along behind you and Kumatsu-kun, when I noticed a strange spirit pressure, and when I looked up, I saw Ichimaru…"

"That's what Hinamori told us… what happened after that?"

"Well, Hinamori ran off to get you, then me and Gin started talking. We talked for a while, but then, I don't really remember, but next thing I knew, I blacked out and woke up here. How long have I been sleeping?"

Toushirou could not resist the urge to speak his mind. "Long enough to never fall asleep in the office again." Hinamori smacked his arm, shaking her finger at him reproachfully.

"Don't be mean, Shirou-chan." Toushirou sighed, sometimes Hinamori didn't let him have any fun. Half his entertainment came from teasing his air-headed vice-captain. However, it was a serious occasion, and he focused on the task at hand.

Matsumoto looked around her, noticing that there seemed to be someone missing. "Where's Kumatsurou? I thought he'd be the first to come! He'd better not be goofing off somewhere." She pouted, her eyes indignant as she thought of the cute little boy she loved having fun elsewhere without her. Toushirou looked at the ground. He couldn't bring himself to tell her. It was hard enough to watch his still form, but to relive the incident to Matsumoto, even he couldn't do that. "Tai…chou?" She noticed that his eyes seemed misty. "Are you… crying?" Toushirou turned away, so that she wouldn't see.

"No… I'm not… baka!" With that, the white haired captain stormed from the room, leaving a bewildered Matsumoto and a quiet Hinamori.

"Hinamori… what's wrong with Taichou…?" The pretty vice-captain resisted the urge to make a joke about it, for she knew that something must be gravely wrong for the unemotional boy to be overwhelmed in such a way. "What… happened to Kumatsurou?"

Hinamori gulped. She didn't know if Toushirou wanted Matsumoto to know, yet she couldn't exactly lie about it, she was a terrible liar, and Matsumoto had an uncanny ability to detect lies, it just wouldn't work. She breathed in. _I hope Shirou-chan doesn't get made at me for telling Rangiku-san._ "Taichou was…"

Matsumoto listened in silence as Hinamori told her tale, her eyes widening as she heard what happened after she was attacked. "Kumatsu-kun… did that for me…?"

Hinamori nodded. "But then... something went wrong." Her face darkened as she struggled to continue.

"Hinamori… you can tell me…" It was more than that, she _had _to tell her. Matsumoto _needed _to know the ending. There was a dark and sinister reason behind Kumatsurou's absence, and she had to know it.

Toushirou came back to the room, after pulling himself together, and when he came to the door, he gave a shout. "Hinamori! What happened here!" Matsumoto was gone, a trail of blood on the floor, leading out of the door, while Hinamori sat on the ground, her hands covered in blood, sobbing loudly.

"Shirou-chan… gomen… I told Rangiku-san what… happened, and she insisted on going to see Taichou…" Toushirou's eyes widened. _Baka… she's nowhere fit enough to move_. "I… tried to stop her… but she was too strong for me, and she..." Toushirou looked worried.

"Come on Hinamori, we need to find Matsumoto, right away!" Putting her arm over his shoulders to help support her, he helped her walk off, following the trail of blood, which led straight out the door, down the corridor, and into a room at the far end. The couple peeped in, and saw Matsumoto by the bed, gasping, she had half-collapsed onto the floor, and the blood had soaked through her bandages completely. "Matsumoto! Baka! Why'd you come here?" He ran over to her, trying to help her up.

"Gomen Taichou… I… I… had to see Kumat…" She coughed again. Toushirou looked at Hinamori and motioned for her to come over.

"Hinamori, look after Matsumoto, I'll go get help." Hinamori nodded, Toushirou raced out of the room, looking urgently for the captain or the vice-captain. He returned a short time later, with a small group of 4th Division members, led by Captain Unohana. He stood by Hinamori and watched in silence as they carried an unconscious Matsumoto out of the room, her blood still dripping slowly as they did so.

After the small procession had left, Toushirou turned back to the still form of his brother. _Wake up soon… Kumatsurou._

-

Clash! The saw-like segments of Zabimaru struck his sword. Toushirou jumped back as Renji pulled his sword back and launched it again in another attack. _Why am I even doing this?_ He thought to himself. It hadn't even been his idea in the first place, but Hinamori had insisted on 'doing something to take his mind off things'. Sparring with Abarai Renji was the last thing he had thought he'd be doing. The spunky vice-captain wasn't even a challenge to the genius. So far he hadn't even found it necessary to release Hyourinmaru. Again and again Toushirou blocked the hits with ease. This was getting boring. As he deflected more thrusts single-handedly, he looked up and saw Hinamori sitting on a ledge, engaged in conversation with a messenger. When he had left, Toushirou raised an eyebrow at her, which translated to 'What did he say?' Hinamori pretended not to notice, merely smiling and pointing at Renji, who was still trying in vain to attack the captain.

Scowling, he turned his attention back to the redheaded vice-captain. Fine then, he'd force Hinamori to talk by finishing this quickly. In a few short seconds, Renji lay on the ground, Zabimaru several feet away, and Toushirou standing over him triumphantly. He leapt up to Hinamori and put on his sternest look. "So, what did he say Hinamori?" She giggled, and he frowned. He tried to glare even more sternly at her, but that only seemed to make her giggle even more. "Hinamori…" He said warningly.

"Hehe… don't worry Shirou-chan! Everything's fine!" She patted him on the head and he scowled even more deeply. "Seriously! In fact, it's better than fine!" Toushirou didn't exactly understand what she meant, so he stared at her, asking her to elaborate. "The news just came. Taichou just woke up!" Toushirou felt as if a weight had been lifted off of him.

"So he's… fine?" She nodded, smiling widely. Toushirou was off like a shot, Hinamori behind him, struggling to keep up. When he entered the room, Kumatsurou was sitting upright, looking just as energetic as before.

"Nii-san! Hey!" Toushirou didn't answer but hugged the surprised boy fiercely. "Nii…san?"

"I was so afraid I'd lose you Kumatsurou, I nearly did last time as well…"

"Last time? What are you talking about?" Kumatsurou looked confused, like Matsumoto, he had no recollection of that day's events.

"You… lost it… again. The thunder frenzy thing… you did it again, and wiped out the entire 9th Division complex." Both the Hitsugaya's stared uncomfortably at a spot on the floor.

"Gomen, Nii-san."

Toushirou couldn't believe his ears. "Baka. It's not your fault."

"It was, if I hadn't… I'd…" Toushirou clicked impatiently and silenced him.

"Stop being so stupid Kumatsurou! It wasn't your fault, end of story! Now if I were you, I'd get out of that bed, you've already recovered enough to be out and about, and go and see my idiotic vice-captain, she's still lying in a bed wrapped in bandages after the last time when she tried to come and see you." There was no reply. Hinamori looked around surprised, Kumatsurou had disappeared, and Kotetsu Isane, who was walking down the corridor, saw a streak of blue flash by, but told herself she must be mistaken.

"Rangiku!" Kumatsurou was a bit out of breath, but that was irrelevant.

"Kumatsu-kun!" Matsumoto's voice was filled with happiness as she saw a familiar face hover above hers. He leaned in and kissed her on the forehead, and she smiled, knowing that her Kumatsu-kun was back.

* * *

**Stuff: **Well, I dunno. Not much to say, except its now holidays, so perhaps I can write a bit more? Although I seem to be updating quite frequently as it is. 


	12. Sake Dreams

**Intro: **Another chapter. This I had written a while ago actually, and it was known as the "Random Filling-in chapter". I figured now was a time to do some filling-in, because in regards to the actual storyline, there's really only one chapter left to go, so here it is. Some fluff, Hyourinmaru's origins, and some alcohol fun. Sorry if there is some crazy OOC, there might have been...

**Random notes to reviewers: **

anGeL Hinaningyou- It took me… 3 days to figure out what "IG" was… I'm so smart! But apart from that, thanks for reviewing once again!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bleach.

* * *

As the sun rose up over Soul Society, 4 figures could be seen on the roof of the 10th Division building. Hitsugaya Toushirou, Hinamori Momo, Hitsugaya Kumatsurou, and Matsumoto Rangiku. Toushirou and Hinamori were leaning against each other as they sat on the roof, while Kumatsurou had his arms around Matsumoto's neck, she was sitting, while he stood behind her, since she towered over him when standing. It had been a month or so since they had left the hospital, both of them had completely recovered.

"Kumatsu-kun, there's something romantic about sitting up here in the morning and watching the sunrise." Matsumoto's voice was filled with affection as she used the nickname she had devised for her favourite boy captain. Hinamori agreed whole-heartedly.

"Hai, and it makes it all the more special today!"

"Today? What's so special about today?" Toushirou couldn't see any special reason, but he didn't really care. It had been a week or two since the unwanted visit from Aizen and his friends.

"Yeah, there isn't anything that special about today is there?" Kumatsurou said it casually, feverishly hoping it wasn't something like Valentine's Day or one of the girl's birthdays. He never bothered to check the calendar, and if he had forgotten something important like that he'd be in big trouble.

Matsumoto frowned as she looked up and poked him. "Of course there is silly! Shame on both of you, both of you geniuses and you forget."

Both Toushirou and Kumatsurou looked at each other in bewilderment. "You know what it is Kumatsurou?" He shook his head dumbly.

"It's your birthday, Shirou-chan!"

"And yours, Kumatsu-kun!" Both the boys had completely forgotten. Before Toushirou could react, Hinamori had leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"How could you forget! You should stop trying to act so grown up all the time, you forgot your own birthday! And your brother's as well!"

There was only one thing on Toushirou's mind. "Wait… am I supposed to get him a present?" He had no idea, Kumatsurou probably didn't get a present for him anyway. Hinamori didn't answer, but thrust a package into his hands, which he cocked an eyebrow at. It was soft, and squishy, didn't feel like anything too exciting. Slowly unwrapping it, he found himself staring at a rather badly made plushie of himself, scowling. His mouth dropped open in disbelief. "Uh... Hinamori, what is this?"

"It's you silly!"

"I don't look like that."

"Yes you do! That's what you look like to me anyway!"

Toushirou sweatdropped. "I look that bad?"

"Tch. It's not that bad Shirou-chan! You shouldn't be mean to other people on your birthday!" Toushirou glanced up at the 5th Vice-captain. _Isn't it supposed to be the other way around? You shouldn't be mean to me on my birthday. And giving an ugly caricature-like plushie of me as a present seems pretty mean to me…_

The pair of them continued arguing, one saying that it didn't look like him, the other insisting it did. Meanwhile, Matsumoto and Kumatsurou were in the middle of his birthday present unwrapping. It was a rather distinct shape. The bottom was wider than the top, and the entire package looked like a cylindrical object with a tube stuck in the top, and the object was hard. Unwrapping it, Kumatsurou stared in disbelief, much like his brother had done at the present Hinamori gave him.

"A bottle of sake, Rangiku?"

"Well, I'm not sure exactly how old you are, but I figured you birthday's as good a time as any to start drinking, anyway, we can pretend you're over the legal limit anyway."

"I'll… think about it."

"Come on! You're starting to sound like Taichou, always so tight-lipped and serious! Loosen up, I like you better when you're normal." _If she liked me normal, she shouldn't have given me a bottle of sake for my present…_ Matsumoto hugged the blue haired captain. "Happy Birthday Kumatsu-kun!"

Smiling as he freed himself from her tight embrace he looked up at her. "Remind me to give you a pile of paperwork on your Birthday then."

Matsumoto pouted. "Aww… that's so mean! And anyway, you can't give me your Division's paperwork!"

"I can always ask Nii-san for some and give that to you." Matsumoto pouted again.

Grabbing his arm, she led him downstairs, screaming. "Let's go say hi to everyone! Then they can give you presents as well!" Kumatsurou's protests could be heard even as they made their way down.

"I don't want to be dragged around all of Soul Society collecting presents!" But it was no use, the determined blonde proceeded to drag her boyfriend around, embarrassing both him and her.

Back on the roof, Toushirou and Hinamori were still arguing. "Fine! If you don't like it, you don't have to keep it!" Hinamori stormed away, firmly planting herself at the other end of the rooftop. Toushirou sighed. _Why'd she have to give me that ugly thing in the first place? But anyway…_ His mouth curled into a grin as he decided what to do next. Quietly, he unsheathed his sword and held it out in front of him limply. A thin mist emanated from the tip of the blade, rising up into the clear sky. A moment later, clouds covered the sky, and the temperature dropped slightly. _Go, Hyourinmaru…_ Snowflakes began to fall down, mostly on the rooftop. A few stray ones drifted away from the roof, but the majority of them fell down around the couple. Hinamori looked around in surprise as the snow fell around her. Turning around, she saw Toushirou smiling as he stood there.

She began to smile as well. _Shirou-chan is so cheap! He knows I have a weakness for those snowflakes of his…_ As he walked towards her, she stood up and let him embrace her. "I'm sorry, Hinamori."

Tears formed in her eyes. "I'm sorry as well, Shirou-chan." As the snow continued to fall, she looked up at the sky. "Remember the first time you met Hyourinmaru?" Toushirou nodded. _How could I ever forget that day…_

"Hinamori! Look out!" Toushirou screamed out a warning, but it was too late. The large hollow they had been fighting descended upon her, its tentacles flailing. It was truly gruesome sight. The creature, not unlike a jellyfish in appearance, had many long tentacles suspended under its clear, jelly-like canopy, which it used to float around. There was a loud splash and Hinamori landed in the fast-flowing river. "Hinamori!" Toushirou screamed again. Her head bobbed up and down in the water as the current swept her away. _No. She can't survive in that river._ There was a dangerous waterfall up ahead, he knew that, she knew that, everyone knew it. In fact, there had been several deaths which had occurred due to careless people going over the waterfall.

_I won't let her join that list. _Toushirou thought fiercely. _There's no way I can let her die like this._ Without thinking about his own safety, he plunged into the icy water and dived under. He could see her up ahead, Hinamori, flailing limply, the current had already sapped most of her strength. With all of his might, Toushirou tried to reach her, but he just couldn't. _No. No. NO!_

The next thing he knew, he was no long under water, swimming towards the struggling Hinamori. He was in a large cavern, made completely of crystal clear ice. _Where am I?_ He looked around him, the multifaceted ice shards around him reflected the light, making them shine even more. There was a loud roar, and before his very eyes, Toushirou saw a white dragon emerge from the ice in front of him. It was huge, gigantic even. From it radiated the deepest cold Toushirou had ever felt. Its breath chilled even his bones. "Wh-wh-who are you?"

The dragon didn't move its mouth, yet Toushirou could hear a voice. "I am your soul cutter. Say my name and release me, so that I may grant you the limitless powers of ice and water."

"I d-don't know your name!" Even though he was shivering, Toushirou managed to sound angry as he argued.

"You must listen, to hear it." _I'm listening_, thought Toushirou. _Tell me…_ "If you are truly ready to wield my awesome power, you will know my name."

"I'm ready." Toushirou braced himself, he had seen others release their soul cutters before, and he knew that it was a unique experience for everyone. _I wonder if anyone else has a dragon as their soul slayer…_

"Listen carefully… my name… say it now. Say it and I shall soar in the frozen sky…"

"HYOURINMARU!" There was a bright flash and Toushirou blinked, when he opened his eyes again, he was surrounded by a large coiled being. _The dragon…_ Hyourinmaru roared, his crystalline body hitting the water surface as Toushirou jumped. It froze instantly. Landing on the ice perfectly, Toushirou ran over to where Hinamori was, having found a rock and climbed onto it for safety.

"Shirou-chan… I..."

"Don't worry about it, bed wetter Momo." Turning his head back to the jellyfish-like creature, he ordered an attack. "Hyourinmaru!" The great dragon of ice obeyed, and rammed into the Hollow, disintegrating it into millions of fine ice crystals. The dragon turned to look at Toushirou, and they stared into each others eyes for what seemed to be an eternity, before the dragon finally melted away, leaving only his sword.

"I'll never forget that." Toushirou's voice was wistful, as he recalled the events of that day so long ago, not only had it been the first time he had met Hyourinmaru, it had been the first time he had realised how he felt about Hinamori, although it had taken a long time for him to tell her.

"I wonder where Matsumoto-san and Kumatsurou-taichou went." Despite the nostalgic atmosphere, Toushirou could not help retorting.

"Hey, how come you call him taichou but not me? He's younger than me you know…" Hinamori giggled and merely patted his spiked hair, before snuggling up to him again.

Downstairs, Matsumoto and Kumatsurou were talking quietly, well, quietly would be an understatement. Matsumoto had used every ounce of her charm, and poured every inch of her soul and voluptuous being into making the captain drink. And it had worked. Kumatsurou now lay, sprawled on the couch, while Matsumoto looked over him, giggling and hiccuping at the same time. When he spoke, his voice had a definite slur to it. "Get me some more of that stuff Matsu-hiccup." Once he had started, the young boy had found it quite impossible to stop himself from guzzling the beverage down. He struggled to get up, but fell down again, Matsumoto took a few more swigs herself, then fell on top of him.

"Isn't this fun Kumatsu-kun?" Her eyes had slid out of focus and she had a silly grin on her face. Kumatsurou was groaning. The massive amounts of alcohol were starting to take their toll on his small kid-sized body. Even though he was in reality over a hundred years old, his body didn't seem to have developed to that stage, and the alcohol was making him woozy.

The sound of voices was approaching, but of course, neither of the occupants of the office could hear them. "You know, I bet those two are- HOLY! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO MATSUMOTO!" Toushirou had opened the door, followed by a curious Hinamori. "MATSUMOTO YOU CRAZY WOMAN! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO KUMATSUROU!" The 10th Division captain rarely lost his temper, in fact, rarely displayed any emotion other than boredom, but this was an exception. He was literally steaming. Matsumoto hiccuped softly, and from beneath her, Kumatsurou gave a faint squeak to greet his brother.

"Rangiku-san... Taichou!" Hinamori's eyes grew wide stepped around Toushirou and saw the two lying on the couch. She ran over to them, pulling at the woman's arms, trying to get her off him. "Get… off… Taichou… Rangiku-san…"

"Go and get some therapy, you crazy-" Toushirou stopped himself from saying what was on his mind, knowing that Hinamori wouldn't approve of his language. Turning, he walked off. Hinamori opened her mouth the question him, but he answered her without even hearing the question. "I'm going to get Unohana, Matsumoto may be used to that crap, but Kumatsurou isn't."

A short while later, Kotetsu Isane appeared at the 10th Division Office, and walked over to the slumbering couple, shaking her head. "It was a stupid thing to do to allow Kumatsurou-taichou to consume alcohol. He is still far too young for it, and by the looks of things, he consumed as much as Rangiku-san did." Bending over, she picked the snoring boy up, and turned to his white haired brother, who was glaring at the sleeping form of Matsumoto with daggers in his eyes. "I'll take the captain to the 4th Division for now, he will probably need some medical attention, but I think Rangiku-san should be fine, she can work it off herself."

Toushirou didn't look up. "Don't worry, I'll make sure she's fine… then the moment she wakes up, she dies." Hinamori scolded him.

"Shirou-chan! You shouldn't be so mean to Rangiku-san!"

"She deserves it." Toushirou was still stinging from the 4th Division's light treatment of the matter. When he had arrived at the captain's office, demanded to see her and was ushered in, she had listened to his tale, and laughed at him. Fancy that! She had said that something like that wasn't an emergency, and he hadn't needed to go straight to her, that other members of her Division were more than capable of handling something like that. Toushirou scowled. Obviously she hadn't understood the seriousness of the situation, and Toushirou had stubbornly refused to move until she saw to his brother, she had compromised, sending her vice-captain instead, whom she guaranteed was 'as capable as myself to handle this situation'. Toushirou didn't want to believe her, his brother was a captain, and he deserved the very best of attention, even if it wasn't strictly required.

The next day, a subdued Kumatsurou followed his storming brother, who was keeping an eye out for his vice-captain, yet she seemed to be nowhere in sight, having been advised by Hinamori to not be seen by Toushirou for at least another decade.

"Nii-san…"

"I don't want to hear it."

"But…"

"Shut up. I'm going to find Matsumoto and kill her, that's the end of the story."

"But-"

"Then I'll find all her stocks of sake and confiscate them."

"But-"

"That irresponsible pig isn't going to get a drink for a long time…"

"Nii-"

"Maybe I could give it to Kyouraku…"

When they reached Matsumoto's room, she was in there, shoving what seemed to be a large number of sake bottles into her kimono. "Ta-taichou!" She gasped. She hadn't expected him to come so soon.

"Hand over the sake now. If you do, I might consider making you my slave instead of killing you." Matsumoto pouted. Death seemed far more favourable than abstinence. Toushirou strode forward, grabbing the 20 or so bottles from Matsumoto's garment.

"TAICHOU!" As he began to walk out of the room, Matsumoto jumped and grabbed onto his leg, crying out in pain as she was separated from her best friend. "DON'T! I'll be good from now on, I promise!" But Toushirou's face was grim. He marched out of the room, determined to keep it away from the blonde's greedy grasp. Kumatsurou looked pityingly at Matsumoto, but there was nothing to be done to persuade his brother.

A few days later, Matsumoto (who had suddenly found it a lot easier to work and stay awake without alcohol) and Kumatsurou were passing by Toushirou's office when they heard a strange sound. A hiccup. Opening the door in surprise, the two of them felt their jaw drop to the ground. Kyouraku was sitting in the armchair opposite Toushirou, and both of their eyes had slid out of focus, and they were hiccuping at random intervals. Hinamori looked on in horror. "What happened, Hinamori?" Kumatsurou was bewildered.

"Oh! Kumatsurou-taichou! Hitsugaya-kun invited Kyouraku-taichou over, and when he saw the bottles of sake, he grabbed one and shoved it in Hitsugaya-kun's mouth, then the two of them just started drinking, and only stopped just then, because they can't hold the bottle up to their mouth." Hinamori looked mortified. "Kyouraku-taichou said it was the easiest way to make sure Rangiku-san didn't drink any more."

Matsumoto and Kumatsurou were speechless.

* * *

**Stuff: **Yeah.. sorry again if they were OOC, just wanted to make both the little kids drunk... :-D


	13. Final Battle I

**Intro: **To all those who missed me and my wonderful work: SORRY! To those who didn't: You suck and you have no idea what you missed out on.

Now that I've finished with my humble return, I can sorta try to explain why I've been away from for a while...

At first with holidays I thought I'd have plenty of time, then I realised I had exams right after holidays so I started studying, then after exams, I became obsessed with a game or two so I couldn't be bothered to update here anymore. But anyway! I've taken advantage of my momentary lapse of interest in Maplestory to try and at least finish this fic off. Another chapter after this one should do it, hopefully anyway. As for my other one, I'll see, I need a bit more work in the ideas department before I continue with that one anyway.

Now, after that pointless blah-blah-ing... I present the next chapter in this strange story that I've concocted over the past few months.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bleach, no one here on this wonderful site does unfortunately...

* * *

It had only been a few days, but the word had quickly spread. The rumours spread far and wide about how 10th Squad captain, Hitsugaya Toushirou, known to be one of the most uptight of the captains, second only to Byakuya, Yamamoto, Komamura, Soi Fong and Kurotsuchi, had been forced to guzzle down 5 bottles of sake by an unknown kidnapper. After a few days, the number had increased to 20 bottles, and it was said that the young captain had given a rare performance, poledancing around one of the columns that held up the 10th Division building. Hinamori was often asked about the incident, and tried in vain to correct these claims, while her busty friend and vice-captain to the captain in question, Matsumoto, urged them onwards, describing vividly her own accounts of the incident, adding in a few hundred touches of her own to make the story much more 'exciting' and 'awe-inspiring'.

As Toushirou walked around Seireitei, he couldn't help noticing that everyone he passed seemed to be staring at him. Worst of all, he was actually getting embarrassed by it. Out of the corner of his mouth, he whispered to Matsumoto, who was walking beside him. "Hey… why's everyone looking at me weirdly?" The orange-haired vice-captain could hear perfectly well, but made a big show of bending over especially as if commenting on her captain's size.

"Gee… I dunno Taichou, but I think everyone's impressed with how you swallowed 50 bottles of sake before fainting in a heap on top of Kyouraku-taichou, humming lullabies to yourself." Toushirou stiffened.

"What the hell have you been telling everybody?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all Taichou… you know how rumours… spread." Toushirou heard the innocent tone in her voice, almost too innocent for his liking. He was certain that it meant that she had a much bigger hand in this rumour business than she had made out. He was about to argue with her once more when someone bumped into him, spilling a large bottle of sake all over his hair.

The perpetrator, Yumichika, looked up and smiled at the captain, putting his charm into full gear. "Oh! Dreadfully sorry Hitsugaya-taichou… didn't mean to do that, but I'm sure you don't mind anyway, I heard you developed quite a taste for the stuff…"

10 minutes later, an urgent call was received by the 4th Division, an 'anonymous' caller had contacted Kotetsu-fukutaichou, and the report stated that Ayasegawa Yumichika had been found, encased in a large block of ice, and he seemed to be bleeding heavily from inside his frozen prison.

Back at the 10th Division, the white haired captain was fuming as he held his head in a tub of water, trying to wash the alcohol out of it. Matsumoto had wisely decided to stay out of his way, at least for the next few millennia, and was currently en route to the 5th Division, to visit her friend Hinamori, and of course, her boyfriend Kumatsurou. She burst through the door, a big smile plastered onto her face. "HI HINAMORI! HI KUMATSU-KUN!"

Hinamori jumped up in surprise, but Kumatsurou wasn't distracted from his work, he had experienced Matsumoto's sudden entrances a few too many times since they had gotten together to be affected by them anymore. Hinamori, however, it seemed, remained as innocent as ever. "What is it this time Rangiku?"

"Aww... Kumatsu-kun, I thought you'd be pleased to see me!"

"If you're not here to ask for something, you're obviously here to hide again, and I don't hear you asking for anything." Kumatsurou still hadn't looked up, but was both talking to her and scribbling furiously on the paper in front of him.

Matsumoto pouted. "I'm insulted Kumatsu-kun. Is there something wrong with me coming over to visit?"

Kumatsurou rolled his eyes. "Now I know you're in trouble for sure. What did you do to Nii-san this time?" Matsumoto opened her mouth to protest, but then closed it again, thinking hard. She had found that Kumatsurou, not unlike his twin brother, had an uncanny knack of knowing the truth when it was hidden from him, and was also annoyingly stubborn to unearth the entire truth.

Sighing, she told him. "Well, remember last week, when Taichou took all my precious sake away, then we found him and Kyouraku-taichou and-"

"Let me guess. You've been spreading rumours about him, someone provoked him just then, he sent them to the 4th Division, he's now grumbling to himself, and you're trying to find a way to stay alive for a while longer… right?"

Matsumoto nodded sheepishly. "SUGOI! Hitsugaya-taichou! How'd you know all that!" Hinamori gazed at her captain in admiration. Kumatsurou put the last piece of paper on the top of a large pile on his desk, and stood, stretching with the satisfaction that he had finished all the paperwork for the present.

A loud crash from outside distracted the attention of all three Shinigami from Matsumoto's predicament. Racing out, the captain and two vice-captains looked up to see a dark cloud swirling, lightning flashing as a blanket of darkness set in on Soul Society.

"Kumatsu-kun, you think this has something to do with Taichou…?" Matsumoto broke off, she knew Hyourinmaru could control the weather, but would her captain really be that angry that he would summon such a hurricane to attack all of Seireitei?

"No, this isn't Toushirou's work… Look up there…" Kumatsurou pointed to the sky. Hinamori let out a gasp, the sky was cracked, a pair of clawed hands had reached out and grabbed hold of the edges, and was slowly pulling them apart. "Aizen has returned, it is time for the final battle…"

Toushirou had just finished washing his hair when he heard a loud voice call over Soul Society. "All Shinigami to defence positions, the treacherous reprobate, Aizen has returned with his army of Menos and Allankar. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill." Toushirou frowned. He had no time to fix his hair up now, he'd have to use a secret little method he had let no one know of so far, and to the present, he had only used it twice anyway. Unsheathing his Zanpakutou, he swept it around a few times, summoning a miniature version of the mighty dragon that inhabited his sword.

"Go Hyourinmaru, I don't have enough time to spike it properly…" It was over in a second. The small dragon swept up and through the captain's white hair, freezing it into place in its usual patented spiked style. With his hair done, he ran outside and looked around at the chaos before him. Shinigami left and right were falling as they tried to take on the Menos that had spewed out from the crater in the sky. If Aizen was back, that meant only one thing to him, it meant Ichimaru was here as well.

A few blocks away, Kumatsurou, Hinamori and Matsumoto were supporting the Shinigami around them as they battled the Menos in a group.

"Growl, Haineko!"

"Snap, Tobiume!"

"Surge through the storm, Raibikaritatsu!"

A volley of cries followed these three, as Shinigami released their own Zanpakutou, and those who had not reached that stage tried to do their part against the gigantic Gillian that surrounded them.

One after another, the large Hollows were eradicated. After a dozen or so were taken out, a voice interrupted them. The voice was quiet, yet even amidst all the chaos, it could be heard clearly. "I wouldn't imagine that you would want to waste your time with those pathetic Menos, Hitsugaya Kumatsurou."

Kumatsurou turned to find a dark figure standing on top of the building, his braided hair unmoving in the violent wind that had picked up, his sightless eyes hiding behind his glasses, dark and dull as always. Kumatsurou's eyes widened as he breathed a single word. "Tousen." The blind ex-captain turned, having sensed that his opponent had used Shunpo to get behind him.

"Do not think that simply because I have no sight, that I cannot tell when you sneak around behind me, little boy." Kumatsurou didn't answer, too many thoughts were going through his mind at this time. Thoughts of rage, every fibre in him wanted to rip this evil man to shreds. Images of the last time they had met filled his head. Images, of blood, of his beloved Matsumoto, swords protruding from her body, her still form lying in a pool of her own blood. His hand shook as he grabbed his sword from behind his back. Seeing that Matsumoto, Hinamori and their group had defeated the Menos around them for the moment, he took the opportunity to get them away.

"Matsumoto! Hinamori! Get all those guys away from here, don't drag them into our fight. Also…" He swung his sword around him, sparks trailing from it as he did so. "Go find Toushirou, you'll be safer with him." He didn't want the same thing to happen again, even though he had no recollection of the times he had lost control of himself, he knew from eyewitness accounts that no one was safe then, even those he loved. When he felt that Matsumoto and Hinamori were a safe distance away, he turned back to the cold face of the blind man in front of him. Kumatsurou hadn't been awfully close to the 9th Division, but from what he had known, Tousen had been a kind and gentle man, who'd go through every sort of compromise possible before drawing his sword. Yet, here he was, sword drawn, ready to fight to the death.

Although his face didn't change, Kumatsurou could sense the slightly sneering tone in his enemy's voice as he spoke. "Quite noble of you, Kumatsurou, you are indeed one of justice."

"How can you talk of justice? After all this, isn't it obvious that justice has no place in your life?"

"Like I once told my fellow captain, Komamura…" Tousen had been on the verge of saying 'friend', but that implied he was still attached to those emotions that Aizen had taught him to leave behind long ago. "The road that I chose with these sightless eyes of mine will forever be the one not dyed with blood, the path of justice. However, as I also told him, any path that these sightless eyes gaze at will not be dyed red with blood, so whichever I choose, that is the path of justice. So there is a place for justice in my life, my justice, however, is very different from yours, Kumatsurou." Kumatsurou held up his sword instinctively as Tousen rushed forward. The two swords clashed, and Kumatsurou jumped back. "Now is no longer the time for idle chit-chat. We begin… now!" Again, Kumatsurou held up his sword to block the furious onslaught of Tousen's Suzumushi as it clashed against his own Raibikaritatsu.

_I can't keep defending like this, I have to end this as quickly as possible. _Kumatsurou lived up to his title as the fastest Shinigami in Seireitei, and disappeared before Tousen's eyes. Sword clashed against sword once again, but this time it was Kumatsurou who was on the offensive, and Tousen who was blocking expertly from every side as Kumatsurou's incredible speed seemed to grant him the privilege of attacking from any direction almost simultaneously. The two fighters leapt forward, and brought their swords down, the two zanpakutou locked onto each other. In perfect unison, the two of them leapt back from the deadlock, and began emitting a powerful spirit force. "I'm guessing you agree with me when I say it's time to start fighting for real… Surge through the storm, Raibikaritatsu!"

Tousen made no answer to this comment, but recited his own incantation, "Suzumushi 2nd form, Benihikou!" As sparks flew from one sword, the other was swept in a circular motion, chiming softly as it did so. A dragon composed of blue lightning emerged, roaring loudly as it flew towards its target, the blind swordsman. At the same time, a rain of blades fell, anchoring the dragon to the ground.

_Those two attacks were almost equal in power, this is going to be a stalemate at this rate…_ Kumatsurou's thoughts were cut short as instinct told him to jump out of the way. He did so, and not a second too soon. Once again, a heavy rain of metal blades fell, landing in the precise spot the blue haired kid had been standing a second earlier.

-

"Long time no see, 10th Captain-san… Thought ya wouldn't be too long. Have trouble finding the place?" Toushirou scowled, a look of pure hatred etched onto his face.

"Shut up Ichimaru, and prepare to die."

"Aiyah… so harsh and hurried Hitsugaya Toushirou… ya never were a patient kid, were ya?"

"I said… shut UP!" Toushirou leapt up, bringing his sword forward as he did so. He descended upon the former 3rd Division captain, his eyes blazing with a cold fury. Slash after slash, Toushirou tried to hit his elusive opponent, but the eerily grinning ex-captain was as slippery as an eel. After a minute or so, they stopped momentarily.

"Oh… don't tell me ya tired already are ya? I was just beginnin' to enjoy this…" His answer came in the form of a sword slash. He ducked, the sword whizzing past his head, before punching the shorter captain in the gut. Taking advantage in this momentary lapse in the assault, he retaliated with his own barrage of thrusts. The tables had turned and now it was the younger captain who was blocking and avoiding the many thrusts and jabs Ichimaru was throwing his way.

"This is far from over Ichimaru…" He leapt into the air, his eyes turning white. Ichimaru knew what was coming. He watched as Toushirou's zanpakutou spurted water from it, forming a large dragon, made up of the same coldness that the 10th Division was known for. "Soar in the frozen sky, Hyourinmaru!" The snaky column of ice and water flew straight for the grinning captain, and he knew the perfect way to counter it.

"Shoot him dead, Shinsou." The sword he held in front of him suddenly lengthened, stretching into an immensely long blade, slowly cutting through the ice, heading straight for the airborne captain.

* * *

**Stuff: **Well, cliffhanger-ish ending to this chapter... In some ways it seemed a bit too abrupt an ending, but meh, read, review and tell me what you think.

Also... kudos to Nainanox's Intrusion for the idea of instant hair-styling for Toushirou.


	14. Final Battle II

**Intro:** Last chapter for this lil story of mine... hope you've enjoyed the ride so far. A thing or two... I originally was going to actually include Gin's Bankai.. but since I really have no idea what it's like.. and don't want it to feature later in the manga as something totally different, I sorta left a nice 'Ichimaru's bankai' sized hole in the story. A GinxRan moment... but of course it's nothing serious since she's already with Kumatsurou... and I'm not letting her leave him for Gin... :D

Oh yeah… Seijou Touyorin is that sacred place thingy where Aizen beat Hitsugaya

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bleach.

* * *

Darkness. That was all he could see. Silence. That was all he could hear. Smell? There was none. _What the hell just happened?_ Kumatsurou thought to himself. All he could remember was his fight with Tousen. _Am I dead...? Did I lose the fight?_ He had no idea. All he remembered was…

-

_"It is time to bring this to an end, young captain. I bear no grudge against you, but for the sake of my justice and the success of Aizen-sama's plans, you must be eliminated." It was hard to tell, but Kumatsurou thought he saw a glimmer of sadness in the blind eyes of the man before him as he spoke. "Ban Kai." Rings had formed, many of them, and then surrounded the pair of fighters. "Suzumushi, Final Form. Enma Koorogi." Then it had all gone black. _

_What happened…? Was that some sort of a finishing move, and he just killed me with it?_ It was near impossible to tell. Kumatsurou didn't dare move, he had no idea what was happening. A gash appeared on his left shoulder and blood spurted out. Within the dark depths of Enma Koorogi, Tousen reappeared on the other side of the blue haired captain, his sword had been splashed with blood.

"Within this sightless, senseless dome, you cannot do anything but get hit again and again by my Suzumushi. You cannot escape it. No one can." It was with a shudder that Tousen's mind leapt back to Zaraki Kenpachi, the fearful demon he had fought with shortly before he had left Soul Society. The blood-frenzied menace had allowed himself to be struck so that he could learn the position of his opponent. And due to his powerful body, even a thrust through his chest hadn't weakened him at all. However, Tousen was confident he had this one in the bag. This young child was not a demon, he was a normal human, and the darkness of his Enma Koorogi would have sparked the necessary fear in his heart to render him paralysed within the dark dome.

_Crap…that hurt_. Kumatsurou felt the sword slash at his shoulder, and he could feel blood hit his face. _Well, guess that means I'm not dead, I just can't see, hear, smell or sense, all I can do is touch._ This was still a predicament, there was no way he could fight Tousen with only his sense of touch. He couldn't see anything, but perhaps…

Tousen turned to attack again, when he felt a sudden rise in his opponents spirit force. _What is he doing? Is he planning on attacking me?_ "Ban kai." Lightning fell from the heavens and struck the sword in Kumatsurou's hand, sending off a brilliant lightshow, even bringing some light into the lightless depths of the Enma Koorogi dome. "Seigyokuden Raibikaritatsu." A blue dragon of lightning had been summoned. Its large wings flapped slowly as its twisting coils wrapped themselves around Kumatsurou, his left shoulder now blazing with the electrical energy that formed the dragon.

-

"Hey there, Raibikaritatsu." Kumatsurou had transported himself to the realm of his Zanpakutou.

"What is it?" Even though its mouth didn't move at all, the thunderous voice of his sword could be heard from all directions.

"I'm really going to need your help on this one. Tousen's Bankai robs you of all your senses except for touch. However, I don't think it will affect you, at least not as much, since you aren't exactly a body with senses inside of it."

"That's what you came in here for?" If it had been possible, the dragon in front of him surely would have rolled its eyes.

Kumatsurou grinned. "Yeah… that's about it, just letting you know and stuff."

-

He returned to the dark world of Enma Koorogi. This time, rather than guiding his sword, he let the dragon guide him. The beast lunged for Tousen. _No. It is not possible. How can Suzumushi not affect his sword? It should, yet that dragon knows exactly where to find me. _Tousen jumped back to avoid yet another lunge from the dragon. _It's fast, but Enma Koorogi seems to have partially affected it, and as a result it has slowed down, and I can still dodge it, luckily._

Meanwhile, Kumatsurou could tell that nothing was really happening. _Raibikaritatsu's movements are really sluggish, it's moving quite slowly, so Tousen isn't getting hit. Guess that means we'll have to slow him down. _As he spoke, the metal orbs that surrounded the dragon began to buzz and hum. Previously, they hadn't been used at all, but had simply been floating around randomly, to the extent that Tousen figured they were some sort of a shield for Kumatsurou should one be necessary. However, as they began shooting bolts of lightning at him, he had second thoughts.

As he ran around the dome, the orbs gained on him, shooting more and more accurately. _Dammit, they're going to hit me-_ His thoughts were cut short as one bolt finally hit him. To his surprise it seemed to do nothing. _What on earth is happening here?_ As he stopped in surprise, another barrage of lightning bolts hit him. On the other side of the dome, Kumatsurou grinned. The orbs attack was flawless. Eventually they'd hit the enemy, and in the confusion of the lightning not doing any visible damage, they'd stop or at least slow down, which meant they could get hit all the more.

As he was hit by more and more bolts of lightning, Tousen stared at the orbs following him, they seemed to be moving much faster now, he could barely keep up with them. Could it be that- _No… of course! Those orbs, they have been slowing me down this whole time, and I was foolish enough to get hit so many times since I was careless. _Stopping, he whirled around and slashed at the nearest orb, he had to get rid of them before he became as slow as a snail. Bang! One down, nine to go. But as Tousen took the valuable time it needed to destroy one, he was hit by nine more. By the time he had destroyed 5 of them, he could no longer hit the others, they sailed out of his grasp each time with ease.

_It's time._ Kumatsurou could tell that Tousen was no longer able to avoid his attacks, after those many minutes, he would have to be more than half as slow as before. "Go, Raibikaritatsu!" The dragon reared up and roared, Tousen looked up in fear as he heard the cry. The fast movements of the lightning dragon were impossible to avoid with his current state. As the dark body of the blind man took the full charge of Seigyokuden Raibikaritatsu, Kumatsurou also thrust his sword into his body. Enma Koorogi burst like a giant bubble, the darkness faded, and Kumatsurou looked around, glad to see the light of day again, even if there was a major storm happening.

Tousen knelt on the ground, a large wound in his chest, blood gushing out. "It's over Tousen. The battle, and your life." Uncharacteristically harsh for the 5th Squad captain, Kumatsurou glared at the man in front of him with a fierce hatred in his eyes. This was the scum who had betrayed Soul Society. This was the scum who had sided with the Menos. But most of all, this was the scum who had nearly killed Matsumoto. Nothing would help him survive. Kumatsurou raised his sword, preparing to bring it down, and with a single movement, destroy him.

"STOP! Hitsugaya-taichou! You can't do it!" Kumatsurou turned to glare at the one who had interrupted him. Hisagi Shuuhei, Captain of the 9th Division, accompanied by Komamura Sajin, Captain of the 7th Division.

"What is it?" If the two of them were going to beg for mercy on behalf of Tousen, Kumatsurou grimly made up his mind not to listen to a word. They might actually convince him not to slaughter the traitor right here and now.

"Tousen-taichou…"

"Hisagi… Komamura… I…I'm…"

-

Hitsugaya Toushirou looked down. The wily ever-smiling captain looked exactly the same as always, his creepy grin glued on his face, his eyes no more than a crack. He appeared so motionless, so lifeless all of a sudden, yet, just a few moments before…

_"Shoot him dead, Shinsou." The sword he held in front of him suddenly lengthened, stretching into an immensely long blade, slowly cutting through the ice, heading straight for the airborne captain. Toushirou's eyes widened, Ichimaru's sword was making progress through the ice. Bringing his sword up, he blocked the oncoming bullet-like blade. Ichimaru grinned. "Ah can't be havin' that now can we 10th Captain-san…" Toushirou had never seen Ichimaru do more than a single thrust with his Shinsou, so it came as a surprise when the former captain brought his elongated blade down with a flick of his wrist. At the far end of the blade, Toushirou felt himself being forced down by the blade. _Shit… _It was with pure luck that he managed to avoid being smashed into the ground. Ichimaru was a tough opponent, when he fought for real. There was no other way to do this. _

Now, as he landed behind Ichimaru, Toushirou knew there was no other choice. Not that it really bothered him anyway. He still felt a deep loathing for Ichimaru ever since he had been there when Hinamori turned on him. It was the same feeling he had for Aizen, when he had found Hinamori's shattered body lying on the floor inside the Seijou Touyorin, nothing within the realm of logic and reasoning mattered to him anymore, all that mattered was that the one who caused Hinamori so much pain was killed.

"Hitsugaya Toushirou… the youngest captain ever to appear in Seireitei. Ya must hold that there title with pride eh?"

"Quiet… forget your mind games Ichimaru. Remember what I told you? The day we found Aizen 'dead'?"

"Vaguely… ya care to remind the ol' noodle?"

Toushirou seethed with rage. "Don't pretend you don't know… I told you, that if you made Hinamori spill one drop of blood, that I would kill you, and through your actions, she almost died. You led her back to Aizen… You made her believe that all was well again… You made her spill blood!" A powerful aura was now surrounding the pint-sized captain, his eyes had turned into glowing crystals. He muttered but one word.

"Ban. Kai."

In the flash explosion that followed, a large dragon made of ice emerged, its crystal wings unfurling as several large ice crystals floated behind it. "Daiguren Hyourinmaru."

"Oh… scary Bankai 10th Captain-san… Whatever should I do now…?" The feigned look of concern disappeared as his mouth once again set itself into an evil grin. "Ban Kai." The sword he held in his hand glowed for a moment, as Ichimaru Gin's sword revealed its final form. "Shoot him dead." Toushirou swore. This was going to be even harder now.

Matsumoto Rangiku and Hinamori Momo had been following the spirit forces they had felt from the other side of Seireitei. Instinctively Rangiku recognised both of them. It was her captain and Ichimaru, and they were fighting. "Come on Hinamori, we have to hurry…"

Toushirou felt a small jolt inside of him as he felt two spirit pressures approaching. _No... Matsumoto, you idiot, don't come any closer! Hinamori... no!_ Ichimaru appeared not to have noticed, or he was so far steeped in evil that he didn't care anymore. He was in an offensive stance, holding his sword back, as if getting ready to fire his Bankai once more. _This is going to be the final attack for both of us. _Toushirou felt exhausted, and he was certain Ichimaru was feeling the fatigue as well. Furthermore, both Hyourinmaru and Shinsou had taken such a beating that to continue would be total foolishness. It was now or never. One final face-off between the icy dragon and the godly spear.

Matsumoto and Hinamori gasped. As they had approached the fighting, they had seen a large dome of light form as if two great powers had just collided and were now fighting to extinguish the other. The light had now faded, and both the vice-captains knew that a victor had been decided, but who…?

"Shirou-chan!" Hinamori screamed as she ran towards the teetering figure soaked in blood. He was breathing heavily as he collapsed into her arms. His face and arms were splattered with blood. Hinamori held him close to her, running her hands through his hard hair, muttering softly to him. "I'll always love you… Shirou-chan."

"I'm sorry… Hinamori…" Toushirou looked up at his Bedwetter Momo, her tears fell onto his face. He smiled weakly. He was sorry, sorry that he hadn't been able to take better care of himself, that he had relied on her for so long as they grew up, but he also knew that he really loved this girl, who had been the subject of his teasing and jokes for the past few millennia, and he was happy enough as he sat in her embrace, it didn't matter to him anymore if he died or not.

"Gin…?" Matsumoto approached him warily, after all, he was still a traitorous bastard who also happened to be extremely creepy. As he heard her voice calling to him gently, a smile appeared on his face, a genuine smile, different from the one that had become his trademark ever since he joined the Gotei 13.

"Rangiku… I'm sorry…" And he was. She had been his only childhood friend. He had been her only childhood friend. It was a rare and beautiful relationship they had shared in the past. And it had all been shattered by the greed and influence of one Aizen Sousuke. "I never told you where I was going…" He coughed up more blood, adding to the pool he was now lying in. Matsumoto cradled his head in her arms, smiling at him.

"Forget it now Gin… it doesn't matter anymore…"

"It does Rangiku… you were the only one I ever trusted, the one I had trusted beyond all others. And I left you. Left you to go find a better place." As he coughed again, Ichimaru opened his eyes, and Matsumoto gazed into them. How long had it been since she had seen those deep, gentle, tender orbs flashing back at her? Too long… way too long. A single tear fell from her face.

"Forget it Gin…" she repeated it a second time. "I'm just glad I got to see you once more…"

-

"Goodbye… Komamura, Hisagi… my dear friends. Thank you for cleansing my murky eyes from the darkness they were covered by. I am ready now…" And it was with one accord that Komamura Sajin, 7th Division Captain, and Hisagi Shuuhei, 9th Division Captain ended the former captain's life and laid him to rest. Kumatsurou had been watching in silence. Suddenly, exhaustion took over him and he collapsed.

"Hitsugaya-taichou… easy now…" When he opened his eyes again, he saw the fuzzy outline of Captain Unohana and her vice-captain loading him onto a small stretcher.

"What… happened?"

"After your fight, you collapsed, we'll just load you up into Minazuki now, then go collect the rest of the casualties from all the fighting." He finally noticed it, but the dark storm clouds had gone, and Seireitei was once again bathed in the warm sunlight. Aizen had gone. It was also about this time that he realised that he was about to be fed feet first to a gigantic stingray type creature.

"WHAT THE HELL? WHAT IS THAT THING!" Frantic 4th Division members tried to pacify the struggling captain as they led the stretcher towards Minazuki, who was looking somewhat puzzled at its next patient's reactions.

After multiple tries to talk some sense into the boy, Unohana sighed and shook her head. "Isane… the emergency anaesthetic if you please." The vice-captain of the 4th looked at her unsurely, but handed Unohana a gigantic wooden mallet. Unohana swung the mighty weapon back, and let it loose straight onto Kumatsurou's head. The now pacified captain was loaded into Minazuki with ease.

-

When Unohana's rescue squad reached the site of Ichimaru and Toushirou's battle, it was already too late for one of them. Unohana and Isane alighted from Minazuki's broad back and made their way towards Matsumoto and the one she was holding, Ichimaru. "Now Ichimaru Gin, time to get up, we've got a stretcher all ready for you, if you'll just get up on it, we'll help you, don't worry." When he didn't respond, she grew impatient, highly uncharacteristic of the placid 4th Division Captain, but after seeing to hundreds of casualties, her patience was being stretched to its limits. "Ichimaru! Will you co-operate or not? If not… I'm afraid we can't help you at all and you'll just die here." Isane was watching Matsumoto and Hinamori, who was standing some distance away supporting a bleeding Toushirou. Both the girls looks of pure disbelief. Isane was starting to feel uncomfortable... something was not right here…

"Um… excuse me? Unohana-taichou?" Hinamori timidly interrupted Unohana's rant. She wilted as Unohana tried to glare at her. "Um… Ichimaru-san already passed away, Hitsugaya-kun's the one who needs treatment right now…"

Several people coughed quietly as Unohana smoothed her hair down and walked calmly over to Toushirou. "I knew that."

Within several months, Soul Society had been almost completely rebuilt, nothing could be seen of the huge battle that took place there. 'The War Against the Treacherous Reprobate Aizen Sousuke' as it was known, or 'WATRAS' for short, left no mark in Seireitei, save for the large shrine they erected, and the new stories people were telling their children. "If you are naughty, the ghost of Aizen Sousuke will come out from within the Shrine of WATRAS to eat you alive and make one of your arms longer than the other."

On a high rooftop overlooking Seireitei, 4 figures could be seen against the setting sun. "It sure is nice to be living in peace like this again…"

"Kumatsu-kun! You've got no taste for adventure!"

"Whatever Matsumoto, you've got no taste for paperwork, which reminds me… Yamamoto gave me a new stack this morning, as of now it's officially your duty to take care of it all."

"That's unfair Taichou! The bundle was at least 10 stories high!"

"Really Rangiku-san! That's incredible! You should help her out then Shirou-chan…"

"She's just exaggerating... geez... it can't be more than 9 and a half stories anyway…"

And as the sun set over Soul Society, their quarrelling voices faded with the light…

* * *

**Stuff: **Well.. that's it... unless of course I decide to add a little coda-ish fluff-filled chapter after this.. but I'll let the reviewers decide that...

Thanks to all who've reviewed this story, especially anGeL Hinaningyou, who reviewed faithfully each time I put a chapter up, it was really encouraging to get so many reviews for this, especially since it was my first fanfic ever...


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